目 录 上一节 下一节 
拉法卢瓦兹觉得娜娜演得很好；他壮着胆量仅提了一个建议：如果娜娜再把嗓子练一练，那就更好了。斯泰内本来已不再听他们讲话，听了他的话，吃了一惊，仿佛从睡梦中惊醒。一切还得等着瞧。说不定在以下几幕里砸锅呢。观众对这出戏已经表现出了兴趣，但肯定没有达到被它扣住心弦的程度。米尼翁断言戏演不到底，在福什利和拉法卢瓦兹离开他们去楼上休息室时，他挽起斯泰内的胳膊，把身子靠在他的肩膀上，对他耳语道： "You're going to see my wife's costume for the second act, old fellow. It IS just blackguardly."" 亲爱的，你去看看我妻子在第二幕里穿的服装吧……真是下流的服装！" Upstairs in the foyer three glass chandeliers burned with a brilliant light. The two cousins hesitated an instant before entering, for the widely opened glazed doors afforded a view right through the gallery--a view of a surging sea of heads, which two currents, as it were, kept in a continuous eddying movement. But they entered after all. Five or six groups of men, talking very loudly and gesticulating, were obstinately discussing the play amid these violent interruptions; others were filing round, their heels, as they turned, sounding sharply on the waxed floor. To right and left, between columns of variegated imitation marble, women were sitting on benches covered with red velvet and viewing the passing movement of the crowd with an air of fatigue as though the heat had rendered them languid. In the lofty mirrors behind them one saw the reflection of their chignons. At the end of the room, in front of the bar, a man with a huge corporation was drinking a glass of fruit syrup. 楼上休息室里，三盏水晶分枝吊灯发出耀眼光芒。表兄弟俩在门口迟疑了一会儿。透过打开的玻璃门，可以从走廊的一头望到另一头，只见人头攒动，分成进出两股人流，不停地流动着。他俩终于进去了。里边有五六群人在指手画脚地高声侃侃而谈，在人流中不肯挪动一步；其他人排成队走着，他们的脚后跟重重地踏在打蜡的地板上。左右两边的仿碧玉大理石的圆柱中间，一些女人坐在红丝绒垫子的长凳上，用疲惫的神态注视着过往的人流，似乎热得精疲力竭；在他们身后，有几面高大的镜子，从镜子里面可以看见她们的发髻。在屋子的尽头，一个大腹便便的男人在一张台子前喝一杯果子露。 But Fauchery, in order to breathe more freely, had gone to the balcony. La Faloise, who was studying the photographs of actresses hung in frames alternating with the mirrors between the columns, ended by following him. They had extinguished the line of gas jets on the facade of the theater, and it was dark and very cool on the balcony, which seemed to them unoccupied. Solitary and enveloped in shadow, a young man was standing, leaning his arms on the stone balustrade, in the recess to the right. He was smoking a cigarette, of which the burning end shone redly. Fauchery recognized Daguenet. They shook hands warmly. 福什利想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气，走到阳台上去。拉法卢瓦兹在仔细观看照片框内的女演员们的照片，照片框与镜子相间地挂在柱子中间，最后，他也随着福什利走到阳台上。剧院正门上边的一排煤气灯刚刚熄灭了。阳台上黑糊糊的，气温宜人，他们以为上面没有人。在右边的门洞外边，一个青年独自一人呆在黑暗中，胳膊肘撑在石栏杆上，抽着烟，烟头闪着火光。福什利认出他是达盖内，于是，他们握起手来。 "What are you after there, my dear fellow?" asked the journalist. "You're hiding yourself in holes and crannies--you, a man who never leaves the stalls on a first night!"" 亲爱的，你在这里干什么？"新闻记者问道，"你躲在这小小的角落里，每次看首场演出，你都不离开前排座位。" 
我在抽烟，你看见了吗。" Then Fauchery, to put him out of countenance: 达盖内回答。福什利想让他难堪，问道： "Well, well! What's your opinion of the new actress? She's being roughly handled enough in the passages."" 那么，你对这位新明星有什么看法？……在走道里，人们对她的看法都不大好。" "Bah!" muttered Daguenet. "They're people whom she'll have had nothing to do with!"" 哦！"达盖内嘟哝道，"他们都是她不会要的男人！" That was the sum of his criticism of Nana's talent. La Faloise leaned forward and looked down at the boulevard. Over against them the windows of a hotel and of a club were brightly lit up, while on the pavement below a dark mass of customers occupied the tables of the Cafe de Madrid. Despite the lateness of the hour the crowd were still crushing and being crushed; people were advancing with shortened step; a throng was constantly emerging from the Passage Jouffroy; individuals stood waiting five or six minutes before they could cross the roadway, to such a distance did the string of carriages extend. 这就是他对娜娜的天才的全部评价。拉法卢瓦兹俯着身子向大街上望去。对面的一家旅馆和一家俱乐部的窗户里灯火辉煌；而在人行道上，黑压压的一群饮客围坐在马德里咖啡馆的桌子旁。夜已深了，行人仍然拥挤不堪；人们只能迈着碎步走路，人流还不停地从儒弗鲁瓦胡同里出来，街上车辆排成长龙，行人要等上五分钟才能穿过马路。 
真是车水马龙，人声鼎沸！"拉法卢瓦兹连连说道，巴黎还在使他惊讶哩。 The bell rang for some time; the foyer emptied. There was a hurrying of people in the passages. The curtain was already up when whole bands of spectators re-entered the house amid the irritated expressions of those who were once more in their places. Everyone took his seat again with an animated look and renewed attention. La Faloise directed his first glance in Gaga's direction, but he was dumfounded at seeing by her side the tall fair man who but recently had been in Lucy's stage box. 电铃已响了好长一阵子，休息室里已空无一人。观众在走道里急急匆匆地走着。幕布已升起，还有一些人三五成群地进来，已经坐下来的观众很恼火。每个人回到自己的座位上，脸上露出神采，又全神贯注地看戏了。拉法卢瓦兹首先看看加加；当他看见加加的身边坐着一个高个金发男子时，他惊讶了一阵子，他刚才还坐在吕西的边包厢里哩。 "What IS that man's name?" he asked." 那位先生叫什么名字？"他问道。 Fauchery failed to observe him. 福什利还没有看那位先生。 "Ah yes, it's Labordette," he said at last with the same careless movement. The scenery of the second act came as a surprise. It represented a suburban Shrove Tuesday dance at the Boule Noire. Masqueraders were trolling a catch, the chorus of which was accompanied with a tapping of their heels. This 'Arryish departure, which nobody had in the least expected, caused so much amusement that the house encored the catch. And it was to this entertainment that the divine band, let astray by Iris, who falsely bragged that he knew the Earth well, were now come in order to proceed with their inquiry. They had put on disguises so as to preserve their incognito. Jupiter came on the stage as King Dagobert, with his breeches inside out and a huge tin crown on his head. Phoebus appeared as the Postillion of Lonjumeau and Minerva as a Norman nursemaid. Loud bursts of merriment greeted Mars, who wore an outrageous uniform, suggestive of an Alpine admiral. But the shouts of laughter became uproarious when Neptune came in view, clad in a blouse, a high, bulging workman's cap on his head, lovelocks glued to his temples. Shuffling along in slippers, he cried in a thick brogue." 噢！看见了，他叫拉博德特。"福什利终于用毫不介意的神态说道。第二幕的布景出人意料。那是一个名叫"黑球"的小酒店的舞场，舞场是用栅栏围成的。时间正值封斋前的星期二，即狂欢节的最后一天；戴假面具的人们一边唱轮舞曲，一边跳轮舞，唱到叠句时，就跺脚作伴奏。穿插这样粗俗的场面，完全出乎人们的意料，他们看得那样高兴，竟然要求再来一次。虹神吹牛自己熟悉尘世，愿为众神领路，结果众神都迷了路，于是，众神就在这里开始调查。为了隐姓埋名，众神都化了装。朱庇特化装成法兰克王达戈贝尔特入场，他反穿着短裤，头上戴一顶马口铁的大王冠。太阳神扮成隆朱莫驿站的马车夫。智慧女神扮成诺曼底的奶娘。观众用一阵哄堂大笑迎接了战神，因为战神穿着一件瑞士海军上将的怪诞服装。但是，等到海神一出场，人们笑得更欢了。海神身着一件工作服，头上戴着一顶鼓鼓胀胀的高大鸭舌帽，卷曲的鬓发贴在太阳穴上，脚上穿着拖鞋，他用沉浊的声音说道： 
什么！一个人既然是美男子，就该有人爱！" There were some shouts of "Oh! Oh!" while the ladies held their fans one degree higher. Lucy in her stage box laughed so obstreperously that Caroline Hequet silenced her with a tap of her fan. 这时候，场内发出了一阵"噢！""噢！"声。妇女们把扇子稍微往上抬一抬。吕西坐在包厢里，她笑得那样响，卡罗利娜·埃凯便用手中的扇子轻轻扑了她一下，让她静下来。 From that moment forth the piece was saved--nay, more, promised a great success. This carnival of the gods, this dragging in the mud of their Olympus, this mock at a whole religion, a whole world of poetry, appeared in the light of a royal entertainment. The fever of irreverence gained the literary first-night world: legend was trampled underfoot; ancient images were shattered. Jupiter's make-up was capital. Mars was a success. Royalty became a farce and the army a thing of folly. When Jupiter, grown suddenly amorous of a little laundress, began to knock off a mad cancan, Simonne, who was playing the part of the laundress, launched a kick at the master of the immortals' nose and addressed him so drolly as "My big daddy!" that an immoderate fit of laughter shook the whole house. While they were dancing Phoebus treated Minerva to salad bowls of negus, and Neptune sat in state among seven or eight women who regaled him with cakes. Allusions were eagerly caught; indecent meanings were attached to them; harmless phrases were diverted from their proper significations in the light of exclamations issuing from the stalls. For a long time past the theatrical public had not wallowed in folly more irreverent. It rested them. 从这时起，这出戏得救了，获得巨大成功已经在望。这种众神参加的狂欢节，把奥林匹斯山拖进泥泞里，戏谑整个宗教，戏谑诗情画意对观众来说，仿佛是一种绝美的享受。这种亵渎神祗的狂热已经蔓延到一些看首场演出的文人墨客身上。传奇遭践踏，古代的人物形象被摧残。朱庇特有一副和善的面孔，而战神则变得疯疯癫癫。众神的王朝变成了笑剧，军队则成了戏谑的对象。朱庇特一下子爱上了一个娇小的洗衣女，开始与她跳起狂乱的康康舞①来。洗衣女是西蒙娜扮演的，她把脚踢到主神的鼻子上，怪声怪气叫他："我的胖老头！"这引起一阵哄堂大笑，笑声简直把剧院都震动了。在跳舞的时候，太阳神请智慧女神喝了几盆色拉酒；海神则端端庄庄地坐在七八个女人中间，她们在请他吃糕点。观众抓住那些带暗示的台词，并添加上一些猥亵的话语，一些无伤大雅的台词，只要池座里发出叫喊声，就改变了原来的意义。很久以来，观众在剧院里没有沉醉在比这更低级的荒唐举动中，这使他们感到闲适。 ①十九世纪起巴黎流行的一种下流舞蹈。 Nevertheless, the action of the piece advanced amid these fooleries. Vulcan, as an elegant young man clad, down to his gloves, entirely in yellow and with an eyeglass stuck in his eye, was forever running after Venus, who at last made her appearance as a fishwife, a kerchief on her head and her bosom, covered with big gold trinkets, in great evidence. Nana was so white and plump and looked so natural in a part demanding wide hips and a voluptuous mouth that she straightway won the whole house. On her account Rose Mignon was forgotten, though she was made up as a delicious baby, with a wicker-work burlet on her head and a short muslin frock and had just sighed forth Diana's plaints in a sweetly pretty voice. The other one, the big wench who slapped her thighs and clucked like a hen, shed round her an odor of life, a sovereign feminine charm, with which the public grew intoxicated. From the second act onward everything was permitted her. She might hold herself awkwardly; she might fail to sing some note in tune; she might forget her words--it mattered not: she had only to turn and laugh to raise shouts of applause. When she gave her famous kick from the hip the stalls were fired, and a glow of passion rose upward, upward, from gallery to gallery, till it reached the gods. It was a triumph, too, when she led the dance. She was at home in that: hand on hip, she enthroned Venus in the gutter by the pavement side. And the music seemed made for her plebeian voice--shrill, piping music, with reminiscences of Saint-Cloud Fair, wheezings of clarinets and playful trills on the part of the little flutes. 这出戏就在这疯狂胡闹中继续下去。火神装扮成漂亮小伙子，穿一身黄色衣服，连手套也是黄色，一只眼里夹着单片眼镜，总是在追求爱神。爱神终于打扮成女鱼贩子上场，头上披着一块头巾，胸部隆起，上面挂满了大块金饰。白白胖胖的娜娜演这种大屁股、大嘴巴的人物是那样自然，她很快就赢得了全场观众的赞叹。一看到娜娜，人们就把罗丝·米尼翁遗忘了。罗丝扮演一个有趣的娃娃，头上戴着一顶柳条编的软垫帽，身着一条平纹细布短裙，她刚刚用迷人的声调诉说了对月神的怨恨。另一个胖乎乎的姑娘娜娜拍着大腿，像母鸡一样咯咯叫着，向她的周围散发着一种生命的气息，散发出一种女人的无限的征服力，观众为之倾倒了。从第二幕开始，她随便怎样演都行，她可以在台上举止粗野，可以连一个音符都唱不准，可以忘记台词；她只要转转身子，笑一笑，就能博得一阵喝彩声。每当她把人人皆知的扭屁股动作一做，池座里的观众的情绪就沸腾起来，这股热情从楼座上一层层升上去，一直升到楼顶为止。因此，当她在小酒店的舞场里领舞时，就会取得辉煌的成功。她在舞台上如同在自己家里一样，一手叉腰，仿佛把爱神搬到了道旁的阴沟里。音乐也似乎是为了她那郊区口音而伴奏的，那是一种芦笛的吹奏声，令人联想到圣克卢集市上的卖艺人的音乐，还配上单簧管的喷嚏声和短笛的欢快的颤音。 Two numbers were again encored. The opening waltz, that waltz with the naughty rhythmic beat, had returned and swept the gods with it. Juno, as a peasant woman, caught Jupiter and his little laundress cleverly and boxed his ears. Diana, surprising Venus in the act of making an assignation with Mars, made haste to indicate hour and place to Vulcan, who cried, "I've hit on a plan!" The rest of the act did not seem very clear. The inquiry ended in a final galop after which Jupiter, breathless, streaming with perspiration and minus his crown, declared that the little women of Earth were delicious and that the men were all to blame. 有两段乐曲又重奏了一遍。开幕时演奏的华尔兹舞曲，节奏放荡，现在又演奏了一遍，把众神送走。扮成农妇的天后当场抓住朱庇特和洗衣女，打了他耳光。月神突然撞见爱神正在与战神幽会，她赶紧去把他俩约会的地点和时间告诉火神，火神嚷道："我自有办法。"下面的内容就不太清楚了。这次下凡调查最后以加洛普舞曲①结束，然后，朱庇特气喘吁吁，汗流浃背，王冠也没有戴，他宣布说，人间的小妇人们都是甜美可爱的，男人们都是有过错的。①加洛普舞曲是一种欢快、两拍舞曲。 
幕布落下来了，响起一片喝彩声。还有一些人声嘶力竭地叫道： "All! All!"" 全体演员出来！全体演员出来！" Thereupon the curtain rose again; the artistes reappeared hand in hand. In the middle of the line Nana and Rose Mignon stood side by side, bowing and curtsying. The audience applauded; the clappers shouted acclamations.Then little by little the house emptied. 这时候，幕又升起，演员们手挽着手再次出现在观众面前，娜娜和罗丝·米尼翁紧挨着站在中间，向观众连连行屈膝礼。观众中响起一阵掌声，雇来捧场的人们发出一片欢呼声。 "I must go and pay my respects to the Countess Muffat," said La Faloise. "Exactly so; you'll present me," replied Fauchery; "we'll go down afterward." 然后，场子里慢慢地走了一半人。"我得去向缪法伯爵夫人问个好。"拉法卢瓦兹说。"对了，你把我也介绍一下，"福什利说，"然后我们一道下楼。" But it was not easy to get to the first-tier boxes. In the passage at the top of the stairs there was a crush. In order to get forward at all among the various groups you had to make yourself small and to slide along, using your elbows in so doing. Leaning under a copper lamp, where a jet of gas was burning, the bulky critic was sitting in judgment on the piece in presence of an attentive circle. People in passing mentioned his name to each other in muttered tones. He had laughed the whole act through--that was the rumor going the round of the passages--nevertheless, he was now very severe and spoke of taste and morals. Farther off the thin-lipped critic was brimming over with a benevolence which had an unpleasant aftertaste, as of milk turned sour. 可是要走到楼厅的包厢里真不容易。在楼上的走道里，观众拥挤不堪。在人群中间，要想往前走，必须侧转身子，用肘子开道，钻着空子走。那个胖胖的批评家把背靠在一盏燃着煤气火焰的铜灯下面，在一圈聚精会神的听众前面对这出戏进行评论。经过的人低声互相转告他的名字。据走廊里的人传说，他在整整一幕演出中，笑个没完没了；然而，现在他露出一副严肃的神态，评论这出戏的风格和伦理问题。稍远一点，有一位薄嘴唇的批评家，他满怀善意地评论这出戏，但言词中带有一种酸溜溜的味道，就像牛奶变酸了一样。 
福什利用目光扫视了一下每个包厢，透过包厢门上的洞眼向里边看。德·旺德夫尔伯爵拦住他，问他想找谁；当他知道两个表兄弟要去向缪法伯爵夫妇问好时，他便向他指了指七号包厢，他刚从那儿出来。随后，他对新闻记者耳语道： "Tell me, my dear fellow," he said, "this Nana--surely she's the girl we saw one evening at the corner of the Rue de Provence?"" 喂，亲爱的，这个娜娜肯定就是有一天晚上我们在普鲁旺斯街的一个拐角上遇见的那个女子……" "By Jove, you're right!" cried Fauchery. "I was saying that I had come across her!"" 噢，你说得对，"福什利嚷道，"我说过我认识她！" La Faloise presented his cousin to Count Muffat de Beuville, who appeared very frigid. But on hearing the name Fauchery the countess raised her head and with a certain reserve complimented the paragraphist on his articles in the Figaro. Leaning on the velvet-covered support in front of her, she turned half round with a pretty movement of the shoulders. They talked for a short time, and the Universal Exhibition was mentioned. 拉法卢瓦兹把他的表兄介绍给缪法·德·伯维尔伯爵，但伯爵的态度显得冷漠。而伯爵夫人一听到福什利的名字，便抬起头来。她用一句分寸得当的话来赞扬这位专栏作者在《费加罗报》上发表的文章。她把双肘撑在丝绒罩着的栏杆上，把肩膀轻盈一扭，转了半个身子，接着，他们交谈了一会儿，话题是万国博览会。 "It will be very fine," said the count, whose square-cut, regular-featured face retained a certain gravity." 那博览会一定很精彩，"伯爵说道，他那端端正正的方脸上保持着官方人士的严肃表情， 
今天我到玛尔斯广场去过，我回来后，对它赞叹不已。" "They say that things won't be ready in time," La Faloise ventured to remark. "There's infinite confusion there--"" 听说博览会还没有筹备好，"拉法卢瓦兹壮着胆子说，"准备工作还乱无头绪……" But the count interrupted him in his severe voice: 伯爵用严肃的语调打断他的话： "Things will be ready. The emperor desires it."" 会准备好的……这是皇帝陛下的意愿。" Fauchery gaily recounted how one day, when he had gone down thither in search of a subject for an article, he had come near spending all his time in the aquarium, which was then in course of construction. The countess smiled. Now and again she glanced down at the body of the house, raising an arm which a white glove covered to the elbow and fanning herself with languid hand.The house dozed, almost deserted. Some gentlemen in the stalls had opened out newspapers, and ladies received visits quite comfortably, as though they were at their own homes. Only a well-bred whispering was audible under the great chandelier, the light of which was softened in the fine cloud of dust raised by the confused movements of the interval. At the different entrances men were crowding in order to talk to ladies who remained seated. They stood there motionless for a few seconds, craning forward somewhat and displaying the great white bosoms of their shirt fronts. 福什利兴致盎然地说，有一天他到那儿去搜集一篇文章的素材，那时，水族馆正在兴建，他差点被困在那里。伯爵夫人莞尔一笑。她不时向楼下场子里张望一下，抬起她的一只戴白手套的胳膊，那手套一直套到胳膊肘，另一只手轻轻摇着扇子。几乎空无一人的大厅仿佛昏昏欲睡了；正厅前座里的几位先生在翻阅报纸，妇女们无拘无束地接待来问好的人，如同在家里一样。在水晶大吊灯下面，只听见一些知心朋友的窃窃私语声，吊灯的光线，通过幕间休息时观众随意走动扬起的灰尘，亮度减弱了。男人们聚集在各个出口处，瞧着那些留在座位上的女人。他们在那儿一动不动地站一会儿，脖子伸得长长的，白衬衫在胸前露出来。 
下星期二，我们等你来。"伯爵夫人对拉法卢瓦兹说。 Not a word was said of the play; Nana's name was not once mentioned. The count was so glacially dignified that he might have been supposed to be taking part at a sitting of the legislature. In order to explain their presence that evening he remarked simply that his father-in-law was fond of the theater. The door of the box must have remained open, for the Marquis de Chouard, who had gone out in order to leave his seat to the visitors, was back again. He was straightening up his tall, old figure. His face looked soft and white under a broad-brimmed hat, and with his restless eyes he followed the movements of the women who passed. 她还邀请福什利，他向她鞠了一躬。他们不谈那出戏了，也不提娜娜的名字了。伯爵的面孔上保持一副冷漠而庄重的神态，别人还以为他在参加立法会议呢。他把他们来看戏的原因，简单解释为他的岳父喜欢看戏。包厢的门只好一直开着，因为刚才德·舒阿尔侯爵把自己的位置让给来访者，出去还没回来，他站在包厢外，挺着高大的老人身躯，他的脸在宽边帽子下显得松弛而又苍白。他用模糊的目光盯着过往的女人。 The moment the countess had given her invitation Fauchery took his leave, feeling that to talk about the play would not be quite the thing. La Faloise was the last to quit the box. He had just noticed the fair-haired Labordette, comfortably installed in the Count de Vandeuvres's stage box and chatting at very close quarters with Blanche de Sivry. 福什利刚刚受到伯爵夫人的邀请，便告辞了，因为他觉得再谈那出戏是不适当的。拉法卢瓦兹最后走出包厢。刚才他在德·旺德夫尔伯爵的边包厢里，瞥见端端庄庄地坐着金色头发的拉博德特，他与布朗瑟·德·西弗里紧坐在一起谈话呢。 "Gad," he said after rejoining his cousin, "that Labordette knows all the girls then! He's with Blanche now."" 啊！是这样，"他一赶上他的表哥就说，"这个拉博德特认识所有的女人吗？……他现在又与布朗瑟凑到一起了。" "Doubtless he knows them all," replied Fauchery quietly. "What d'you want to be taken for, my friend?"" 当然罗！他认识所有的女人，"福什利平心静气地回答，"亲爱的，难道你是外星人吗？" 
这时走道里的人已经少了一些。福什利刚要下楼，吕西·斯图华便叫住他。她呆在走廊一头的她的边包厢门口。她说，包厢里热死了，于是她同卡罗利娜·埃凯母女俩呆在宽阔的走廊里，嘴里嚼着糖杏仁。一个女引座员与她们亲热地交谈着。吕西与新闻记者争执起来，她说他真殷勤，宁愿上楼去看望其他女人，也不问一声她们渴不渴！接着，她随口说道： "You know, dear boy, I think Nana very nice."" 亲爱的，你知道吗？我觉得娜娜演得很好。" She wanted him to stay in the stage box for the last act, but he made his escape, promising to catch them at the door afterward. Downstairs in front of the theater Fauchery and La Faloise lit cigarettes. A great gathering blocked the sidewalk, a stream of men who had come down from the theater steps and were inhaling the fresh night air in the boulevards, where the roar and battle had diminished. 她想让他留在她的包厢里，陪她看完最后一幕；但是，他还是走了，答应等散场后在出口处等她们。在楼下剧院门前，福什利和拉法卢瓦兹点燃了香烟。观众一个接一个从剧院台阶上走下来，堵在人行道上，在马路上减弱的喧闹声中，呼吸着夜晚的新鲜空气。 Meanwhile Mignon had drawn Steiner away to the Cafe des Varietes. Seeing Nana's success, he had set to work to talk enthusiastically about her, all the while observing the banker out of the corners of his eyes. He knew him well; twice he had helped him to deceive Rose and then, the caprice being over, had brought him back to her, faithful and repentant. In the cafe the too numerous crowd of customers were squeezing themselves round the marble-topped tables. Several were standing up, drinking in a great hurry. The tall mirrors reflected this thronging world of heads to infinity and magnified the narrow room beyond measure with its three chandeliers, its moleskin-covered seats and its winding staircase draped with red. Steiner went and seated himself at a table in the first saloon, which opened full on the boulevard, its doors having been removed rather early for the time of year. As Fauchery and La Faloise were passing the banker stopped them. 这时候，米尼翁拉着斯泰内进了游艺咖啡馆。他见娜娜获得了成功，便热情地谈论起她来，一边瞟着银行家，他很了解银行家，他曾两次帮助银行家欺骗自己的妻子罗丝，等银行家的情欲一过，他又把他带到罗丝的身边，这时银行家表现得既后悔又忠诚。咖啡馆里顾客很多，他们都拥挤在大理石桌子周围；有些人匆匆忙忙站着喝咖啡；横动的人头映在高大的镜子里，一眼看不到头的狭窄的大厅里，三盏吊灯、仿皮漆布面子的长凳和铺着红地毯的螺旋楼梯都无限放大了。斯泰内走到第一厅里，坐到一张桌子旁，这个厅临大街，门已拆了，按照时令来说，拆得未免早了一些。福什利和拉法卢瓦兹从那儿经过时，银行家叫住他们，说道： "Come and take a bock with us, eh?" they said." 来跟我们一起喝杯啤酒吧。" 
但是斯泰内的头脑里，总是萦绕着一个念头：他想叫人把一束鲜花递给娜娜。他终于叫来一个侍者，他亲密地管他叫奥古斯特。米尼翁一边听着，一边目光炯炯地注视着斯泰内，他心里有些惴惴不安，期期艾艾说道： "Two bouquets, Auguste, and deliver them to the attendant. A bouquet for each of these ladies! Happy thought, eh?"" 去买两束鲜花，奥古斯特，交给那个女引座员，两个女主角各送一束，要在合适的时候交给她们，听懂了吗？" At the other end of the saloon, her shoulders resting against the frame of a mirror, a girl, some eighteen years of age at the outside, was leaning motionless in front of her empty glass as though she had been benumbed by long and fruitless waiting. Under the natural curls of her beautiful gray-gold hair a virginal face looked out at you with velvety eyes, which were at once soft and candid. 在咖啡厅的另一头，有一个姑娘，看上去年龄最多只有十八岁，她把颈背靠在一个镜框上，一动不动地呆在一只空杯子前，她像长时间等人未等到，神态迷惘了。她有一头美丽、灰色天然鬈发，模样像是处女，一双天鹅绒般的眼睛，显得温和而又天真； She wore a dress of faded green silk and a round hat which blows had dinted. The cool air of the night made her look very pale. 她穿着一条褪了色的绿绸袍子，头戴一顶圆帽，由于常常挨耳光，帽子变破了。夜晚的凉风吹得她脸色发白。 "Egad, there's Satin," murmured Fauchery when his eye lit upon her." 哟！原来是萨丹在这里。"福什利瞥见那个姑娘悄声说道。 
拉法卢瓦兹问福什利是怎么回事。哦！她是大街上的一名暗娼，算不了什么。但是，由于她很下流，大家总爱逗她谈话。于是，新闻记者拉大嗓门说道： "What are you doing there, Satin?"" 萨丹，你呆在这儿干啥？" "I'm bogging," replied Satin quietly without changing position." 无聊呗！"萨丹一动也不动，若无其事地回答。 The four men were charmed and fell a-laughing. Mignon assured them that there was no need to hurry; it would take twenty minutes to set up the scenery for the third act. But the two cousins, having drunk their beer, wanted to go up into the theater again; the cold was making itself felt. Then Mignon remained alone with Steiner, put his elbows on the table and spoke to him at close quarters. 四个男人听了，开心得笑起来。米尼翁向大家说，不必赶紧进场，第三幕布置布景就要花二十分钟。可是表兄弟俩喝了啤酒，身上有些冷，因而想进场。于是，仅剩下米尼翁和斯泰内两人，米尼翁把肘支在桌子上，面对面地对他说： "It's an understood thing, eh? We are to go to her house, and I'm to introduce you. You know the thing's quite between ourselves--my wife needn't know."" 嗯？这就说定了，我们到她家里去，我给你介绍……你知道，这件事只有我们两人知道，不必告诉我老婆。" 
福什利和拉法卢瓦兹回到座位上后，发现第二排包厢里坐着一位衣著端庄的漂亮妇人。陪她看戏的是一个神态严肃的男人，他是内务部办公室主任，拉法卢瓦兹认识他，他在缪法家里遇见过他。而福什利呢，他相信这位太太就是罗贝尔夫人，她是一位正经女人，只有一个情人，没有第二个，而且她的情人是一位总是受人尊敬的人。
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