目 录 上一节 下一节 
他那可鄙的吝啬本性一下子暴露无遗。娜娜这时克制住自己，她惊慌失措，赶紧从写字台里把剩下的钱取出来，放到他的面前。直到这时为止，钥匙插在共用的钱柜上面，两人可以自由取钱。 "How's this?" he said when he had counted up the money. "There are scarcely seven thousand francs remaining out of seventeen thousand, and we've only been together three months. The thing's impossible."" 怎么！"他算了帐后说道，"一万七千法郎怎么现在剩下不足七千法郎，我们在一起生活才三个月……这是不可能的。" He rushed forward, gave the desk a savage shake and brought the drawer forward in order to ransack it in the light of the lamp. But it actually contained only six thousand eight hundred and odd francs. Thereupon the tempest burst forth. 他自己又跑过去，把写字台一推，把抽屉端过来，在灯光下面翻找。但是，里面只有六千八百零几个法郎。于是，他大发雷霆。 "Ten thousand francs in three months!" he yelled. "By God! What have you done with it all? Eh? Answer! It all goes to your jade of an aunt, eh? Or you're keeping men; that's plain! Will you answer?"" 三个月就用了一万法郎！"他声嘶力竭地叫道，"他妈的！你是怎么花的？嗯？回答我！……这些钱全进了你姑妈这个老骨头的腰包里了，嗯？或是给你的野男人用了，这是明摆的事……你肯回答我吗！" "Oh well, if you must get in a rage!" said Nana. "Why, the calculation's easily made! You haven't allowed for the furniture; besides, I've had to buy linen. Money goes quickly when one's settling in a new place."" 啊！你干嘛发这样大的火！"娜娜说道，"帐是很好算的……你还没有把家具算进去；另外，我也不得不买些衣服，安好一个家，花钱是快的。" 
他一边要求她解释，一边又不愿听她解释。 "Yes, it goes a deal too quickly!" he rejoined more calmly. "And look here, little girl, I've had enough of this mutual housekeeping. You know those seven thousand francs are mine. Yes, and as I've got 'em, I shall keep 'em! Hang it, the moment you become wasteful I get anxious not to be ruined. To each man his own."" 对，钱花起来很快，"他平静了一些说道，"你知道，我的小乖乖，我们这种在一起吃饭的生活，我实在受够了，你知道，这七千法郎是我的。好吧，既然钱到了我的手中，我就把它留下来，我不想把自己搞得破产，各人的钱还归各人吧。" And he pocketed the money in a lordly way while Nana gazed at him, dumfounded. He continued speaking complaisantly: 于是，他冠冕堂皇地把钱塞进衣袋里。娜娜呆呆地望着他。他还得意洋洋地继续说道： "You must understand I'm not such a fool as to keep aunts and likewise children who don't belong to me. You were pleased to spend your own money--well, that's your affair! But my money--no, that's sacred! When in the future you cook a leg of mutton I'll pay for half of it. We'll settle up tonight--there!"" 你知道，我也没有那么傻，花钱供养别人的姑妈和孩子……你的钱，你喜欢怎么花就怎么花，这是你的事；但是我的钱，那是神圣不可侵犯的！……以后你烧一条羊腿，我付一半钱。晚上，咱们把帐算清，就这么办！" Straightway Nana rebelled. She could not help shouting: 娜娜一下子火冒三丈，她忍耐不住了，大声叫道： 
喂，你把我的一万法郎吞了……你这样做，真卑鄙！" But he did not stop to discuss matters further, for he dealt her a random box on the ear across the table, remarking as he did so: 丰唐没有和她多争吵，隔着桌子，使劲掴了她一记耳光，说道： "Let's have that again!"" 你再说一遍！" She let him have it again despite his blow. Whereupon he fell upon her and kicked and cuffed her heartily. Soon he had reduced her to such a state that she ended, as her wont was, by undressing and going to bed in a flood of tears.He was out of breath and was going to bed, in his turn, when he noticed the letter he had written to Georges lying on the table. Whereupon he folded it up carefully and, turning toward the bed, remarked in threatening accents: 娜娜虽然挨了一记耳光，但她又说了一遍，于是他朝她扑过去，拳打脚踢。不一会儿，他把她打得那样厉害，娜娜最后只好像往常一样，脱了衣服，哭着睡觉了。丰唐气喘吁吁。他正要上床睡觉时，发现桌子上放着由他代写给乔治的那封信。于是，他把信小心地折起来，把身子转向床边，用威胁的口吻说道： "It's very well written, and I'm going to post it myself because I don't like women's fancies. Now don't go moaning any more; it puts my teeth on edge."" 这封信写得很好，我亲自拿去寄，我不喜欢朝三暮四的爱情……别哼了，烦死我了！" 
娜娜本来抽抽噎噎，这时屏住了呼吸。丰唐上床后，她感到憋的慌，便一下子钻进他的怀里，嚎啕大哭起来。他们打架后，总是这样和好的；她生怕失去丰唐，不管怎样，她忍气吞声，想看看他对她是否还有感情。他两次傲慢地把她推开，但是，这个女人像头忠于主人的牲口，她的一双大眼睛里噙着泪水哀求他，温柔地拥抱他，终于引起了他的性欲。他装出宽宏大量的样子，但决不降低身份迁就她；他任她抚摩，任她拼命求欢，他摆出一副架势，要得到他的宽恕，花点力气也是必要的。接着，他又不安起来，怕娜娜耍花招，想把抽屉的钥匙要回去。这时，蜡烛已经熄了，他觉得有必要重申一下自己的意愿。 "You must know, my girl, that this is really very serious and that I keep the money."" 你知道，我的乖乖，说句正经话，钱我可要留着。" Nana, who was falling asleep with her arms round his neck, uttered a sublime sentiment. 娜娜搂住他的脖子昏昏欲睡了，她说了一句大方话： "Yes, you need fear nothing! I'll work for both of us!"" 留着吧，别害怕……我去干活儿。" But from that evening onward their life in common became more and more difficult. From one week's end to the other the noise of slaps filled the air and resembled the ticking of a clock by which they regulated their existence. Through dint of being much beaten Nana became as pliable as fine linen; her skin grew delicate and pink and white and so soft to the touch and clear to the view that she may be said to have grown more good looking than ever. Prulliere, moreover, began running after her like a madman, coming in when Fontan was away and pushing her into corners in order to snatch an embrace. But she used to struggle out of his grasp, full of indignation and blushing with shame. It disgusted her to think of him wanting to deceive a friend. Prulliere would thereupon begin sneering with a wrathful expression. Why, she was growing jolly stupid nowadays! How could she take up with such an ape? For, indeed, Fontan was a regular ape with that great swingeing nose of his. Oh, he had an ugly mug! Besides, the man knocked her about too! 从那天晚上起，他们越来越难在一起生活了，一个星期从头到尾，不断听到耳光声，仿佛是滴嗒滴嗒的时钟声，调节着他们的生活。娜娜由于经常挨打，变得像细腻织物一样柔软，耳光使她的皮肤变得细嫩，白里透红，摸上去光滑，看上去明亮，变得更加漂亮了。因此，普律利埃尔拼命追求她，丰唐不在家时，他就来了，他把她推到角落上吻她。但是娜娜挣扎着，马上怒不可遏，脸羞得通红；她觉得他欺骗一个朋友，调戏朋友的情人实在可恶。普律利埃尔神色愤怒，冷笑着。她确实变得太愚蠢了，怎么爱上一个丑八怪？因为说到底，丰唐是一个真正的丑鬼，那个大鼻子还不停地动来动去。他是一个下流坯！他还经常狠狠揍她呢。 
这很可能，可我就爱他这个丑样子。"一天，她坦然回答道，她承认自己有这种恶劣的趣味。 Bosc contented himself by dining with them as often as possible. He shrugged his shoulders behind Prulliere's back--a pretty fellow, to be sure, but a frivolous! Bosc had on more than one occasion assisted at domestic scenes, and at dessert, when Fontan slapped Nana, he went on chewing solemnly, for the thing struck him as being quite in the course of nature. In order to give some return for his dinner he used always to go into ecstasies over their happiness. He declared himself a philosopher who had given up everything, glory included. At times Prulliere and Fontan lolled back in their chairs, losing count of time in front of the empty table, while with theatrical gestures and intonation they discussed their former successes till two in the morning. But he would sit by, lost in thought, finishing the brandy bottle in silence and only occasionally emitting a little contemptuous sniff. Where was Talma's tradition? Nowhere. Very well, let them leave him jolly well alone! It was too stupid to go on as they were doing! 博斯克时常在娜娜家里吃饭，对此他感到很高兴。他经常在普律利埃尔后面耸耸肩。普律利埃尔是个漂亮小伙子，但他不够严肃。他好几次目睹了他们家庭纠纷的场面，那都是在吃餐后点心的时候，丰唐打娜娜的耳光，他却继续一股劲儿吃着，他觉得这是很自然的事。他总是赞美他们的幸福，以此作为对他们请他吃饭的报答。他以达观者自诩，把一切都舍弃了，连荣誉也不例外。有时，普律利埃尔和丰唐躺在椅子上，在餐具已经收拾了的桌子前，用演戏的手势和语调怡然自得地叙说各自的舞台成就，一直谈到深夜两点钟；而博斯克则在一边想别的事情，相隔很长时间才蔑视地哼一声，一声不吭地喝他那瓶白兰地，当年的塔尔玛①还留下什么了呢？什么也没有，他早被人们忘记了，现在谈论他，真是太愚蠢了！ ①塔尔玛（一七六三～一八二六）法国演员。在表演风格、戏剧服装等方面的改革，使他成为十九世纪法国浪漫主义和现实主义的著名先驱者。 One evening he found Nana in tears. She took off her dressing jacket in order to show him her back and her arms, which were black and blue. He looked at her skin without being tempted to abuse the opportunity, as that ass of a Prulliere would have been. Then, sententiously: 一天晚上，博斯克见娜娜眼泪汪汪。娜娜脱掉她的短上衣，让他看她的背上和胳膊上被打得青一块紫一块的伤痕。他看看她的皮肤，用教训人的口气说，如果普律利埃尔这个傻瓜在场，他也会这么说： "My dear girl, where there are women there are sure to be ructions. It was Napoleon who said that, I think. Wash yourself with salt water. Salt water's the very thing for those little knocks. Tut, tut, you'll get others as bad, but don't complain so long as no bones are broken. I'm inviting myself to dinner, you know; I've spotted a leg of mutton."" 姑娘，哪里有女人，哪里就有耳光。我记得这是拿破仑说过的话……用盐水洗一洗吧。对这样的轻伤，盐水效果很好。算了吧，你以后还会挨打的，只要没有什么地方被打断，就不要埋怨……你知道，今天我不请自来，我看见你们家里买了羊腿。" But Mme Lerat had less philosophy. Every time Nana showed her a fresh bruise on the white skin she screamed aloud. They were killing her niece; things couldn't go on as they were doing. As a matter of fact, Fontan had turned Mme Lerat out of doors and had declared that he would not have her at his house in the future, and ever since that day, when he returned home and she happened to be there, she had to make off through the kitchen, which was a horrible humiliation to her. Accordingly she never ceased inveighing against that brutal individual. She especially blamed his ill breeding, pursing up her lips, as she did so, like a highly respectable lady whom nobody could possibly remonstrate with on the subject of good manners. 但是，勒拉太太却没有博斯克这种人生哲学观点。每次她把雪白的皮肤上那刚被打得发青的伤痕让她看时，她总是连连大叫几声。人家要杀害她的侄女，这样的事不能再继续下去了。事实上，丰唐曾经把勒拉太太赶走过，赶她时还说，他不愿意她再到他家里来。打那以后，每当勒拉在娜娜家时，丰唐一回来，她就只好从厨房那边溜走，这是对她的莫大侮辱。因此，她不断斥骂他，骂他没有教养，她说话时露出一副言谈举止得体的妇女的神色，似乎她受的良好教育谁也比不上。 
哦！这是一眼就看得出来的，"她对娜娜说，"他一点礼貌也不懂。她的母亲一定是个粗俗不堪的人；你不要否认，这是看得出来的！……我这样说不是仅仅为了自己，尽管像我这样年纪的人理应受到人们的尊重……但是你，说实话，你怎么能忍受他的粗野举动；我不是自夸，我一向教育你要注意举止，你在自己家里得到的是最好的忠告。我们全家人都相处得很好，是吗？" Nana used never to protest but would listen with bowed head. 娜娜低着头听她说，没有反驳她的话。 "Then, too," continued the aunt, "you've only known perfect gentlemen hitherto. We were talking of that very topic with Zoe at my place yesterday evening. She can't understand it any more than I can. 'How is it,' she said, 'that Madame, who used to have that perfect gentleman, Monsieur le Comte, at her beck and call'--for between you and me, it seems you drove him silly--'how is it that Madame lets herself be made into mincemeat by that clown of a fellow?' I remarked at the time that you might put up with the beatings but that I would never have allowed him to be lacking in proper respect. In fact, there isn't a word to be said for him. I wouldn't have his portrait in my room even! And you ruin yourself for such a bird as that; yes, you ruin yourself, my darling; you toil and you moil, when there are so many others and such rich men, too, some of them even connected with the government! Ah well, it's not I who ought to be telling you this, of course! But all the same, when next he tries any of his dirty tricks on I should cut him short with a 'Monsieur, what d'you take me for?' You know how to say it in that grand way of yours! It would downright cripple him."" 另外，"姑妈继续说道，"你只认识一些有身份的人……就在昨天，我还同佐爱在我家里谈过这件事。她也和我一样不明白，她说：'太太怎么会让伯爵这样十全十美的人俯首听命。'棗这里没有别人，我觉得你把他弄得团团转棗她还说：'太太怎么听凭一个小丑糟蹋，任意打骂？'我还说，打骂还可以忍受，但是我不能容忍别人对我不尊敬……总之，这个人没有一点可取之处。我甚至不愿让他的照片留在我的房间里，可是你竟然为了这样一个家伙毁了自己。你确实毁了自己，亲爱的侄女，你要的男人多得很，有富翁，也有政府官员……够了！这些话不该我说。不过，下次他要再干坏事，我就叫你抛弃他，并且说一声：'先生，你把我当成什么人啦？'你知道，只要你摆出一副高傲的样子，就会大杀他的威风。" Thereupon Nana burst into sobs and stammered out: 这时，娜娜抽抽噎噎起来，结结巴巴地说道： "Oh, Aunt, I love him!"" 哦！我的姑妈，我多么爱他呀。" 
娜娜的景况使勒拉太太日益不安起来，她看见侄女费了好大劲才能凑到二十个苏，来支付她的小路易的生活费，而且每次拖欠的时间越来越长。当然罗，她要作出一些牺牲，不管怎样，她还得把小路易留在身边，慢慢等待侄女的经济情况好转。但是她一想到丰唐不让孩子、娜娜和她动用他们的钱，她就火冒三丈，甚至叫娜娜否认与丰唐的爱情关系。最后，她严肃地提醒她： "Now listen, some fine day when he's taken the skin off your back, you'll come and knock at my door, and I'll open it to you."" 听着，总有一天他要剥掉你的皮，那时，你来敲我的门，我会开门欢迎你的。" Soon money began to engross Nana's whole attention. Fontan had caused the seven thousand francs to vanish away. Without doubt they were quite safe; indeed, she would never have dared ask him questions about them, for she was wont to be blushingly diffident with that bird, as Mme Lerat called him. She trembled lest he should think her capable of quarreling with him about halfpence. He had certainly promised to subscribe toward their common household expenses, and in the early days he had given out three francs every morning. But he was as exacting as a boarder; he wanted everything for his three francs--butter, meat, early fruit and early vegetables--and if she ventured to make an observation, if she hinted that you could not have everything in the market for three francs, he flew into a temper and treated her as a useless, wasteful woman, a confounded donkey whom the tradespeople were robbing. Moreover, he was always ready to threaten that he would take lodgings somewhere else. At the end of a month on certain mornings he had forgotten to deposit the three francs on the chest of drawers, and she had ventured to ask for them in a timid, roundabout way. Whereupon there had been such bitter disputes and he had seized every pretext to render her life so miserable that she had found it best no longer to count upon him. Whenever, however, he had omitted to leave behind the three one-franc pieces and found a dinner awaiting him all the same, he grew as merry as a sandboy, kissed Nana gallantly and waltzed with the chairs. And she was so charmed by this conduct that she at length got to hope that nothing would be found on the chest of drawers, despite the difficulty she experienced in making both ends meet. One day she even returned him his three francs, telling him a tale to the effect that she still had yesterday's money. As he had given her nothing then, he hesitated for some moments, as though he dreaded a lecture. But she gazed at him with her loving eyes and hugged him in such utter self-surrender that he pocketed the money again with that little convulsive twitch or the fingers peculiar to a miser when he regains possession of that which has been well-nigh lost. From that day forth he never troubled himself about money again or inquired whence it came. But when there were potatoes on the table he looked intoxicated with delight and would laugh and smack his lips before her turkeys and legs of mutton, though of course this did not prevent his dealing Nana sundry sharp smacks, as though to keep his hand in amid all his happiness. 不久，娜娜为钱伤透了心。丰唐把那七千法郎藏起来了，藏到别人找不到的地方，而她又从来不敢问他，因为在这个被勒拉太太称为家伙的人面前，她是羞于启齿的，生怕他以为她看中他几个钱才缠住他不放。他曾经答应过支付家庭开支。开头几天，每天早上，他拿出三个法郎。但是，男人付了钱，条件是很苛刻的；他拿出三个法郎，什么都要吃到，黄油，肉，时鲜蔬菜和水果，她若胆敢对他提点意见，说三个法郎不能把菜场里的东西都买下来，他就大发雷霆，骂她是个没用的女仆，只会瞎花钱的女人，该死的蠢货，钱都被商人骗去了。他还经常威胁她，说他要到别处去搭伙。后来，一个月后，有几天早上，他忘了把三个法郎放在五斗柜上。她壮着胆子，用婉转的方式向他要。于是，又发生了一场轩然大波。他动辄找碴儿，闹得娜娜不得安宁，以致后来在家庭开支上，娜娜不再指望他了。而丰唐呢，恰恰相反，每当他没有拿出每枚合二十个苏的三个法郎，却照样有饭吃，他就非常快乐，使劲地吻娜娜，还抓住椅子跳华尔兹舞。而娜娜呢，也很高兴，她巴不得看不到五斗柜上有钱，虽然她每个月都是寅吃卯粮。有一天，她还把他的三个法郎还给他，撒谎说，前一天的钱还没有用完。因为前一天他没有给钱，他便犹豫了一阵子，生怕娜娜教训他。然而，她却含情脉脉地瞅着他，吻他时仿佛要把她整个身心献给他，他把钱币放进口袋，抓钱时手微微颤抖着，就像一个吝啬鬼攫住一笔差点丢失的钱似的。从那天起，他就不为钱而担心了，他再也不问家里用的钱是从哪里来的，吃土豆时，他就板起阴郁的面孔，吃火鸡或羊腿时，他就几乎要笑掉下巴。但这并不妨碍他狠狠给娜娜几个耳光，即使在他很高兴的时候也是这样，为的是经常练练手劲。 Nana had indeed found means to provide for all needs, and the place on certain days overflowed with good things. Twice a week, regularly, Bosc had indigestion. One evening as Mme Lerat was withdrawing from the scene in high dudgeon because she had noticed a copious dinner she was not destined to eat in process of preparation, she could not prevent herself asking brutally who paid for it all. Nana was taken by surprise; she grew foolish and began crying. 娜娜找到了满足家庭需要的办法，有些日子，家里摆满了食品。每个星期，博斯克总有两次吃得消化不良。一天晚上，勒拉太太看见炉灶里煮着一顿丰盛的晚餐，而自己却吃不到，临走时气乎乎地，不禁用生硬的口气问娜娜，是谁付的钱。娜娜吃了一惊，被问得张口结舌，哭起来了。 "Ah, that's a pretty business," said the aunt, who had divined her meaning." 哼，这钱来得不干净。"姑妈说道，她明白了一切。 
为了保持家里平平静静，娜娜只好听天由命。再说，这是拉特里贡老虔婆的过错。有一天，丰唐嫌鳕鱼烧得不好，怒气冲冲地走了，娜娜在拉瓦尔街遇上拉特里贡，她就答应了，拉特里贡正好经济也拮据。因为丰唐在六点钟前从来不回家，整个下午娜娜可以自由安排，她有时赚到四十法郎，有时六十法郎，有时更多一点。如果她善于像从前那样要价，她满可要价十个或十五个路易；但是眼下只要有饭吃，她就心满意足了。到了晚上，她把一切都忘了。博斯克吃得肚皮都要撑破了，丰唐把胳膊肘搁在桌子上，让娜娜吻他的眼睛，他神气十足，仿佛他是一个理所当然被人爱的男人。 In due course Nana's very adoration of her darling, her dear old duck, which was all the more passionately blind, seeing that now she paid for everything, plunged her back into the muddiest depths of her calling. She roamed the streets and loitered on the pavement in quest of a five-franc piece, just as when she was a slipshod baggage years ago. One Sunday at La Rochefoucauld Market she had made her peace with Satin after having flown at her with furious reproaches about Mme Robert. But Satin had been content to answer that when one didn't like a thing there was no reason why one hould want to disgust others with it. And Nana, who was by way of being wide-minded, had accepted the philosophic view that you never can tell where your tastes will lead you and had forgiven her. Her curiosity was even excited, and she began questioning her about obscure vices and was astounded to be adding to her information at her time of life and with her knowledge. She burst out laughing and gave vent to various expressions of surprise. It struck her as so queer, and yet she was a little shocked by it, for she was really quite the philistine outside the pale of her own habits. So she went back to Laure's and fed there when Fontan was dining out. She derived much amusement from the stories and the amours and the jealousies which inflamed the female customers without hindering their appetites in the slightest degree. Nevertheless, she still was not quite in it, as she herself phrased it. The vast Laure, meltingly maternal as ever, used often to invite her to pass a day or two at her Asnieries Villa, a country house containing seven spare bedrooms. But she used to refuse; she was afraid. Satin, however, swore she was mistaken about it, that gentlemen from Paris swung you in swings and played tonneau with you, and so she promised to come at some future time when it would be possible for her to leave town. 娜娜热恋着他的宝贝，她的可爱的小狗，因为盲目地爱他，现在为此付出了代价，以致重新陷入了初次坠入风尘时的处境。她又像当初当烟花女那样，拖着一双旧鞋子，到处游荡，跑遍每条马路，为了赚一枚一百个苏的银币。一个星期天，娜娜在拉罗什福科菜场碰到萨丹，愤怒地冲到她的面前，当着她的面，把罗贝尔夫人骂了一顿，然后两人又言归于好了。萨丹听了她的责备，只回答说，如果一个人不喜欢什么，但他没有理由要求别人也不喜欢。娜娜心胸宽广，接受了这一富有哲理性的观点，谁也不知道自己最后会落到什么样的境地，因此也就原谅了她。她突然起了好奇心，她询问萨丹关于她们鬼混的地方的情况，在她这样的年龄，除了她已经知道的事情外，萨丹又告诉她一些事情，这使她惊得目瞪口呆；她哈哈大笑，惊叫起来，觉得很新奇，然而也产生几分反感，因为从本质上来说，她是一个因循守旧的人，凡是不合她习惯的东西，她都看不顺眼。因此，每当丰唐不在家吃饭时，她就到洛尔饭店吃饭。她在那里津津有味地听人讲一些故事、爱情趣闻和争风吃醋的事。女客们都兴致盎然地听着，但她们还是照样吃东西。然而，正如她自己所说，她总不会成为她们当中的一员。胖老板娘洛尔待她像慈母一样，经常邀请娜娜到她在阿斯尼埃尔的别墅住几天，那是一座乡村别墅，有好几间卧室，可供七个妇女居住。娜娜不愿去，她有些害怕。但是萨丹断言她错了，说巴黎的先生们已经抛弃了娜娜，而去玩投饼游戏①了。过了一些日子，娜娜答应了，不过要等她家里没事时再去。 ①箱顶有槽口若干，每个槽口标有分数，将金属圆饼投入槽口者得分。 At that time Nana was much tormented by circumstances and not at all festively inclined. She needed money, and when the Tricon did not want her, which too often happened, she had no notion where to bestow her charms. Then began a series of wild descents upon the Parisian pavement, plunges into the baser sort of vice, whose votaries prowl in muddy bystreets under the restless flicker of gas lamps. Nana went back to the public-house balls in the suburbs, where she had kicked up her heels in the early ill-shod days. She revisited the dark corners on the outer boulevards, where when she was fifteen years old men used to hug her while her father was looking for her in order to give her a hiding. Both the women would speed along, visiting all the ballrooms and restaurants in a quarter and climbing innumerable staircases which were wet with spittle and spilled beer, or they would stroll quietly about, going up streets and planting themselves in front of carriage gates. Satin, who had served her apprenticeship in the Quartier Latin, used to take Nana to Bullier's and the public houses in the Boulevard Saint-Michel. But the vacations were drawing on, and the Quarter looked too starved. Eventually they always returned to the principal boulevards, for it was there they ran the best chance of getting what they wanted. From the heights of Montmartre to the observatory plateau they scoured the whole town in the way we have been describing. They were out on rainy evenings, when their boots got worn down, and on hot evenings, when their linen clung to their skins. There were long periods of waiting and endless periods of walking; there were jostlings and disputes and the nameless, brutal caresses of the stray passer-by who was taken by them to some miserable furnished room and came swearing down the greasy stairs afterward. 这段时间娜娜很苦恼，心思压根儿不在游玩消遣上。她手头拮据。当拉特里贡不找她时，她就不知道去何处卖身，而这种情况时常发生。于是，她就像发疯似的，和萨丹一道出去，在巴黎的街上乱逛，在社会低层卖身，她们走在泥泞的街道上，在昏暗的煤气灯光下寻找嫖客。娜娜又去城关的低级舞厅了，当年她是在这里失足的；她又见到了环城林荫大道的阴暗的角落，还有那些路碑。她十五岁时，一些男人就在这些路碑上吻抱她，而她的父亲到处寻找她，恨不得打烂她的屁股。她们两人在这个区里无处不到，出没于这个地带的每家舞厅和咖啡馆，爬着被痰和打翻的啤酒弄得湿漉漉的楼梯；或者慢悠悠地走在街道上，不时伫立在车辆进出的门口等待着。萨丹当年是在拉丁区沦为烟花女的，她带领娜娜去比里埃和圣米歇尔林荫大道的一家家小酒店。但是，到了学校放假时，在拉丁区很难拉到嫖客，她们便再回到那些林荫大道上，还是在这些地方，她们拉到的嫖客最多，从蒙马特高地到天文台高地，她们就这样跑遍全城。晚上下雨，鞋跟跑破了；遇上炎热的晚上，短上衣粘在皮肤上，长时间的等候，没完没了的溜达，推搡和争吵，领一个行人到一家不三不四的客店里，忍受了最粗野的蹂躏，事后，一边咒骂，一边走下油垢的楼梯。 The summer was drawing to a close, a stormy summer of burning nights. The pair used to start out together after dinner, toward nine o'clock. On the pavements of the Rue Notre Dame de la Lorette two long files of women scudded along with tucked-up skirts and bent heads, keeping close to the shops but never once glancing at the displays in the shopwindows as they hurried busily down toward the boulevards. This was the hungry exodus from the Quartier Breda which took place nightly when the street lamps had just been lit. Nana and Satin used to skirt the church and then march off along the Rue le Peletier. When they were some hundred yards from the Cafe Riche and had fairly reached their scene of operations they would shake out the skirts of their dresses, which up till that moment they had been holding carefully up, and begin sweeping the pavements, regardless of dust. With much swaying of the hips they strolled delicately along, slackening their pace when they crossed the bright light thrown from one of the great cafes. With shoulders thrown back, shrill and noisy laughter and many backward glances at the men who turned to look at them, they marched about and were completely in their element. In the shadow of night their artificially whitened faces, their rouged lips and their darkened eyelids became as charming and suggestive as if the inmates of a make-believe trumpery oriental bazaar had been sent forth into the open street. Till eleven at night they sauntered gaily along among the rudely jostling crowds, contenting themselves with an occasional "dirty ass!" hurled after the clumsy people whose boot heels had torn a flounce or two from their dresses. Little familiar salutations would pass between them and the cafe waiters, and at times they would stop and chat in front of a small table and accept of drinks, which they consumed with much deliberation, as became people not sorry to sit down for a bit while waiting for the theaters to empty. But as night advanced, if they had not made one or two trips in the direction of the Rue la Rochefoucauld, they became abject strumpets, and their hunt for men grew more ferocious than ever. Beneath the trees in the darkening and fast-emptying boulevards fierce bargainings took place, accompanied by oaths and blows. Respectable family parties--fathers, mothers and daughters--who were used to such scenes, would pass quietly by the while without quickening their pace. Afterward, when they had walked from the opera to the GYMNASE some half-score times and in the deepening night men were rapidly dropping off homeward for good and all, Nana and Satin kept to the sidewalk in the Rue du Faubourg Montmartre. There up till two o'clock in the morning restaurants, bars and ham-and-beef shops were brightly lit up, while a noisy mob of women hung obstinately round the doors of the cafes. This suburb was the only corner of night Paris which was still alight and still alive, the only market still open to nocturnal bargains. These last were openly struck between group and group and from one end of the street to the other, just as in the wide and open corridor of a disorderly house. On such evenings as the pair came home without having had any success they used to wrangle together. The Rue Notre Dame de la Lorette stretched dark and deserted in front of them. Here and there the crawling shadow of a woman was discernible, for the Quarter was going home and going home late, and poor creatures, exasperated at a night of fruitless loitering, were unwilling to give up the chase and would still stand, disputing in hoarse voices with any strayed reveler they could catch at the corner of the Rue Breda or the Rue Fontaine. 夏天就要过去了。这年夏天时常下暴雨，夜晚闷热难熬。晚饭后，她们经常在将近九点钟时一道出去。在洛莱特圣母院路的两边人行道上，有两队卖笑女子，她们贴着一家家商店，行色匆匆向林荫大道走去，她们撩起裙子，低着头，连橱窗里的东西都不看。在华灯初照之时，布雷达地区的妓女们如饥似渴地纷纷走上街头。娜娜和萨丹出来时总是沿着教堂走一段路，然后踏上勒佩尔蒂埃街，在距里克咖啡馆一百米处，就到了她们的活动地带，这时她们就把一只手一直小心翼翼撩起的裙子放下来；她们不顾地上的灰尘，任凭裙子拖在人行道上，她们扭着腰，迈着碎步，慢腾腾地走着，她们走到灯火通明的一家大咖啡馆门前时，脚步更慢了。她们挺起胸部，放声大笑，回过头来向盯着她们的男人们频送秋波，像在家里那样肆无忌惮。她们搽粉的脸蛋，涂红的嘴唇，画黑的眼皮，在夜色中，颇像露天市场上的廉价珍珠，光泽美丽，有着令人眼花缭乱的魅力。直到十一点钟，她们在拥挤的人群中走来走去，但是她们仍然很快乐，有时遇上莽撞的男人，脚跟踩了她们裙子的边饰，等他们走到很远时，她们在他们后边骂一声"没有教养的畜生！"。她们和咖啡馆的侍者亲热地打招呼，站在一张桌子前聊天，叫侍者端来咖啡，高兴地坐下来，慢慢地喝着，一边等待剧院散场。但是，到了夜深人静时刻，如果她们在拉罗什福科街还没有拉到一两个嫖客，她们就变成了下贱妓女，拉客的方式也就更加粗野了。在行人越来越少、光线阴暗的林荫大道上，可以听见树底下传来激烈的讨价还价声、谩骂声和厮打声。有些循规蹈矩的家庭，父母带着女儿，从路旁经过，由于他们看惯了这些场面，所以视而不见，慢悠悠地走过去。娜娜和萨丹在歌剧院和体育馆之间来回跑了十次后，夜已越来越深，男人们断然离开那里，大步流星往家走，这时，娜娜和萨丹仍然固守在福布尔-蒙马特街的人行道上。直到深夜两点钟，饭店、酒吧、肉食店里仍然灯火辉煌，妓女们仍然拥在咖啡馆门口，这里是巴黎夜间最后一个灯火通明、热闹的地方，是达成共欢一夜交易的最后公开市场。从街的一头到另一头，一对对男女在直截了当地谈交易，就像在一家妓院的时时对外开放的走廊里一样。有些夜里，她们一无所获而归，于是两人就要拌嘴。洛莱特圣母院街很长，整条街上黑魆魆的，空空荡荡，只有一些女人的影子在晃动。现在是本区人最后一批回家的时候，那些未拉到客的可怜妓女，很恼火，仍不甘心一无所获，她们把迷路的醉汉拦在布雷达街或丰台纳街的拐角处，用嘶哑的嗓音同他们讨价还价。 Nevertheless, some windfalls came in their way now and then in the shape of louis picked up in the society of elegant gentlemen, who slipped their decorations into their pockets as they went upstairs with them. Satin had an especially keen scent for these. On rainy evenings, when the dripping city exhaled an unpleasant odor suggestive of a great untidy bed, she knew that the soft weather and the fetid reek of the town's holes and corners were sure to send the men mad. And so she watched the best dressed among them, for she knew by their pale eyes what their state was. On such nights it was as though a fit of fleshly madness were passing over Paris. The girl was rather nervous certainly, for the most modish gentlemen were always the most obscene. All the varnish would crack off a man, and the brute beast would show itself, exacting, monstrous in lust, a past master in corruption. But besides being nervous, that trollop of a Satin was lacking in respect. She would blurt out awful things in front of dignified gentlemen in carriages and assure them that their coachmen were better bred than they because they behaved respectfully toward the women and did not half kill them with their diabolical tricks and suggestions. The way in which smart people sprawled head over heels into all the cesspools of vice still caused Nana some surprise, for she had a few prejudices remaining, though Satin was rapidly destroying them."Well then," she used to say when talking seriously about the matter, "there's no such thing as virtue left, is there?"From one end of the social ladder to the other everybody was on the loose! Good gracious! Some nice things ought to be going on in Paris between nine o'clock in the evening and three in the morning! And with that she began making very merry and declaring that if one could only have looked into every room one would have seen some funny sights--the little people going it head over ears and a good lot of swells, too, playing the swine rather harder than the rest. Oh, she was finishing her education! 不过，有时她们也会有出乎意料的收获，从一些有身份的先生的身上弄到一些金路易，他们上楼时，就把勋章取下来，揣进口袋里。萨丹对这些尤为敏感。潮湿的晚上，潮湿的巴黎散发出一种淡淡的气味，那气味仿佛是从一间不整洁的放床大凹室里散发出来的。她知道这样酷热而潮湿的天气和从昏暗角落里飘出来的恶臭，会让男人们烦躁万分。她注视着那些衣着最漂亮的男人，她从他们的暗淡无神的目光里，就能看出他们的性欲需要。这时候，仿佛疯狂的肉欲席卷了巴黎全城。她有些害怕了，因为那些最道貌岸然的男人往往是最卑鄙的人。这时候，他们的假面具摘下来了，兽性大发作，他们作爱很苛求，有一些古怪的趣味要求，他们的反常性欲很精细。因此，萨丹这个婊子不尊敬他们，经常当着坐在马车里的道貌岸然的大人先生们大声嚷嚷，说连他们的马车夫都比他们好，因为他们尊敬妇女，不会用上流社会人的坏点子来坑害她们。这些上层人物也沉醉在荒淫放荡的生活中，使娜娜感到吃惊，娜娜对他们还保留着一些好的看法，萨丹这样一说，娜娜就改变了自己的看法。正如同她在闲聊时一本正经地所说的那样，这样说来道德就不存在了吗？从上到下，人们都陷在堕落的泥坑中。唉！从晚上九点钟到早上三点钟，巴黎城里一定是肮脏不堪。娜娜用嘲笑的口气大声说，如果能到所有卧室里看一眼，就会目睹一些有趣的情景，小人物都在尽情淫乐，而不少大人物呢，到处都一样，一头钻进肮脏的勾当里，并且比别人钻得更深。娜娜对社会认识得更清楚了。 
一天晚上，娜娜来找萨丹，她在上楼梯时遇见德·舒阿尔侯爵。他像断了腿似的，手扶着栏杆拖着脚步往下走，脸色煞白，他假装擤鼻涕，没看见她。上了楼，她发现萨丹家里肮脏透了，房间里似乎整整有一个星期没有打扫了，床上臭气熏人，瓦罐到处乱放。她很奇怪，萨丹竟然认识侯爵。啊！对了，她认识他，甚至在她与糕点师傅在一起瞎混时，他还给他们制造过麻烦呢！现在他不时来找萨丹；他一来就缠住她不放，不干净的地方他都要用鼻子去闻一闻，连她的拖鞋他也要闻。 "Yes, dear girl, my slippers! Oh, he's the dirtiest old beast, always wanting one to do things!"" 对了，亲爱的，我的拖鞋他也要闻……哦！他真是个坏蛋！他总是要求这样，要求那样……" The sincerity of these low debauches rendered Nana especially uneasy. Seeing the courtesans around her slowly dying of it every day, she recalled to mind the comedy of pleasure she had taken part in when she was in the heyday of success. Moreover, Satin inspired her with an awful fear of the police. She was full of anecdotes about them. Formerly she had been the mistress of a plain-clothes man, had consented to this in order to be left in peace, and on two occasions he had prevented her from being put "on the lists." But at present she was in a great fright, for if she were to be nabbed again there was a clear case against her. You had only to listen to her! For the sake of perquisites the police used to take up as many women as possible. They laid hold of everybody and quieted you with a slap if you shouted, for they were sure of being defended in their actions and rewarded, even when they had taken a virtuous girl among the rest. In the summer they would swoop upon the boulevard in parties of twelve or fifteen, surround a whole long reach of sidewalk and fish up as many as thirty women in an evening. Satin, however, knew the likely places, and the moment she saw a plain-clothes man heaving in sight she took to her heels, while the long lines of women on the pavements scattered in consternation and fled through the surrounding crowd. The dread of the law and of the magistracy was such that certain women would stand as though paralyzed in the doorways of the cafes while the raid was sweeping the avenue without. But Satin was even more afraid of being denounced, for her pastry cook had proved blackguard enough to threaten to sell her when she had left him. Yes, that was a fake by which men lived on their mistresses! Then, too, there were the dirty women who delivered you up out of sheer treachery if you were prettier than they! Nana listened to these recitals and felt her terrors growing upon her. She had always trembled before the law, that unknown power, that form of revenge practiced by men able and willing to crush her in the certain absence of all defenders. Saint-Lazare she pictured as a grave, a dark hole, in which they buried live women after they had cut off their hair. She admitted that it was only necessary to leave Fontan and seek powerful protectors. But as matters stood it was in vain that Satin talked to her of certain lists of women's names, which it was the duty of the plainclothes men to consult, and of certain photographs accompanying the lists, the originals of which were on no account to be touched. The reassurance did not make her tremble the less, and she still saw herself hustled and dragged along and finally subjected to the official medical inspection. The thought of the official armchair filled her with shame and anguish, for had she not bade it defiance a score of times? 尤其使娜娜深感不安的是萨丹坦率地对她讲的那些荒淫无耻的事情。她回想起当初沦落风尘时淫乐的可笑事情；而现在她看见自己周围的那些姑娘，在淫乐生活中，每天都有人毁了自己。另外，萨丹还使她对警察怕得要死。这方面，萨丹经历过不少事情。从前，她曾经同一个风化警察睡过觉，目的是避免有人找她麻烦；果然那个风化警察一连两次阻止了对她进行登记。现在，她胆战心惊，因为如果警察来抓她，她的妓女身份就暴露了。应当听她讲讲这方面的事情。警察为了得奖金，就尽量多抓妓女，他们见一个抓一个，一个不漏，谁叫喊，就给谁一个耳光，叫你闭嘴，在一大群娼妓中，他们即使错抓了一个正经女人，也会受到支持，得到奖赏。每到夏天，他们就十二个人一群，或十五个人一组，在环城林荫大道上进行大逮捕，包抄一条人行道，一个晚上，最多能抓到三十个妓女。不过，萨丹熟悉地形；只要她一发现一个警察的面孔，拔腿就跑，其他妓女也惊恐万状地跟着四下逃跑，在人群中形成几条长长的队伍。她们对法律和警察局怕得要命，当警察在一条马路上对她们进行大搜捕时，一些妓女呆在咖啡馆门口，吓得不敢动弹。而萨丹最害怕的是被人告发，那个糕点师就是一个没有教养的家伙，当她离他而去时，他威胁要出卖她；一点不错，一些男人就是使用这样的伎俩，让姘头来养活他们。还有一些卑鄙妓女，她们见别人长得比自己漂亮，就背信弃义地出卖别人。娜娜听她讲这些事情，越听越害怕。娜娜听到"法律"两个字就打哆嗦，法律的威力是不可知的，男人们可以用法律来报复她，把她置于死地，而世界上却不会有一个人来为她辩护。圣拉扎尔监狱①在她心目中似乎是一座坟墓，是活埋女人的黑坑，活埋之前，还要剃光她们的头发。她想她只要甩掉丰唐，她就能找到保护人。萨丹对她说，警察局有几份附上照片的妓女名单，警察抓人时都要查看这些名单，但是有保护人的妓女，他们是从来不碰一下的。尽管萨丹这样说，对她并未起作用，她浑身仍然打着哆嗦，她仿佛老是被警察推着走，拖着走，第二天就被拉去进行卫生体检。她一想到那张检查时自己坐的那张椅子，就感到惶惶不安，又感到羞耻，尽管她经常不顾廉耻，身上脱得一丝不挂。 ①圣拉扎尔监狱，建于十七世纪，当时是巴黎的一所麻疯病院，一七八九年改为监狱。
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