名著·茶花女 - 第13节


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  第二天早晨九点钟,我到了他的家里,他脸色苍白得吓人,但神态还算安详。

   He smiled at me and held out his hand.

  他对我笑了笑,伸过手来。

   His candles had burned right down and, before leaving, Armand picked up a very thick letter, addressed to his father, which had doubtless been the confidant of the night's reflections.

  几支蜡烛都点完了,在出门之前,阿尔芒拿了一封写给他父亲的厚厚的信,他一定在信里倾诉了他夜里的感想。

   Half an hour later, we were at Montmartre.

  半个小时以后,我们到达蒙马特公墓。

   The superintendent was already waiting for us.

  警长已经在等我们了。

  大家慢慢地向玛格丽特的坟墓走去,警长走在前面,阿尔芒和我在后面几步远的地方跟着。

   From time to time, I felt my companion's arm tremble convulsively, as though a series of shudders had suddenly coursed through him. When this happened, I would look at him; he understood my look and smiled at me, but from the time we left his apartment we had not exchanged a single word.

  我觉得我同伴的胳膊在不停地抽搐,像是有一股寒流突然穿过他的全身。因此,我瞧瞧他,他也懂得了我目光的含义,对我微笑了一下。可是从他家里出来后,我们连一句话也不曾交谈过。

   Armand stopped just short of the grave to wipe his face which was streaming with large drops of perspiration.

  快要走到坟前时,阿尔芒停了下来,抹了抹脸上豆大的汗珠。

   I took advantage of the halt to catch my breath, for I myself felt as though my heart was being squeezed in a vice.

  我也利用这个机会舒了一口气,因为我自己的心也好像给虎钳紧紧地钳住了似的。

   Why is it that we should find a mixture of pain and pleasure in sights of this kind? By the time we reached the grave, the gardener had taken the pots of flowers away, the iron railings had been removed and two men were digging with picks.

  在这样痛苦的场合,难道还会有什么乐趣可言!我们来到坟前的时候,园丁已经把所有的花盆移开了,铁栅栏也搬开了,有两个人正在挖土。

  阿尔芒靠在一棵树上望着。

   The whole of his life seemed to be concentrated in those eyes of his.

  仿佛他全部的生命都集中在他那两只眼睛里了。

   Suddenly, one of the picks grated on a stone.

  突然,一把鹤嘴锄触到了石头,发出了刺耳的声音。

   At the sound, Armand recoiled as though from an electric shock, and he grasped my hand with such strength that he hurt me.

  一听到这个声音,阿尔芒像遭到电击似的往后一缩,并使劲握住我的手,握得我手也痛了。

   One grave-digger took a wide shovel and little by little emptied the grave; when there remained only the stones which are always used to cover the coffin, he threw them out one by one.

  一个掘墓人拿起一把巨大的铁铲,一点一点地清除墓穴里的积土;后来,墓穴里只剩下盖在棺材上面的石块,他就一块一块地往外扔。

  我一直在观察阿尔芒,时刻担心他那明显克制着的感情会把他压垮;但是他一直在望着,两眼发直,瞪得大大的,像疯子一样,只有从他微微颤抖的脸颊和双唇上才看得出他的神经正处在极度紧张的状态之中。

   For my own part, I can say only one thing: that I regretted having come.

  至于我呢,我能说的只有一件事,那就是我很后悔到这里来。

   When the coffin was completely exposed, the superintendent said to the grave-Diggers:

  棺材全部露出来以后,警长对掘墓的工人们说:

   'Open it up.'

  “打开!”

   The men obeyed, as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

  这些人就照办了,仿佛这是世界上最简单的一件事。

  棺材是橡木制的,他们开始旋取棺材盖上的螺钉,这些螺钉受了地下的潮气都锈住了。好不容易才把棺材打了开来,一股恶臭迎面扑来,尽管棺材四周都是芳香扑鼻的花草。

   'Dear God! Dear God!' Armand murmured, and he grew paler than ever.

  “啊,天哪!天哪!”阿尔芒喃喃地说,脸色雪白。

   The grave-diggers themselves stepped back a pace.

  连掘墓人也向后退了。

   A large white winding-sheet covered the corpse and partly outlined its misshapen contours. This shroud had been completely eaten away at one end, and allowed one of the dead woman's feet to protrude.

  一块巨大的白色裹尸布裹着尸体,从外面可以看出尸体的轮廓。尸布的一端几乎完全烂掉了,露出了死者的一只脚。

   I was very near to feeling sick, and even now as I write these lines, the memory of this scene comes back to me in all its solemn reality.

  我差不多要晕过去了,就在我现在写到这几行的时候,这一幕景象似乎仍在眼前。

  “我们快一点吧。”警长说。

   At this, one of the men reached out his hand, began unstitching the shroud and, seizing it by one end suddenly uncovered Marguerite's face.

  两个工人中的一个动手拆开尸布,他抓住一头把尸布掀开,一下子露出了玛格丽特的脸庞。

   It was terrible to behold and it is horrible to relate.

  那模样看着实在怕人,说起来也使人不寒而栗。

   The eyes were simply two holes, the lips had gone, and the white teeth were clenched. The long, dry, black hair was stuck over the temples and partly veiled the green hollows of the cheeks, and yet in this face I recognized the pink and white, vivacious face which I had seen so often.

  一对眼睛只剩下了两个窟窿,嘴唇烂掉了,雪白的牙齿咬得紧紧的,干枯而黑乎乎的长发贴在太阳穴上,稀稀拉拉地掩盖着深深凹陷下去的青灰色的面颊。不过,我还是能从这一张脸庞上认出我以前经常见到的那张白里透红、喜气洋洋的脸蛋。

   Armand, helpless to avert his eyes from her countenance, had put his handkerchief to his mouth and was biting on it.

  阿尔芒死死地盯着这张脸,嘴里咬着他掏出来的手帕。

  我仿佛有一只铁环紧箍在头上,眼前一片模糊,耳朵里嗡嗡作响,我只能把我带在身边以防万一的一只嗅盐瓶打开,拼命地嗅着。

   At the height of my dizziness, I heard the superintendent say to Monsieur Duval:

  正在我头晕目眩的时候,听到警长在跟迪瓦尔先生说:

   'Do you identify the body?'

  “认出来了吗?”

   'Yes, ' the young man answered dully.

  “认出来了。”年轻人声音喑哑地回答说。

   'All right, close it up and take it away, ' the superintendent said.

  “那就把棺材盖上搬走。”警长说。

  掘墓工人把裹尸布扔在死人的脸上,盖上棺盖,一人一头把棺材抬起,向指定的那个方向走去。

   Armand did not move. His eyes were riveted on the empty grave: he was as pale as the corpse which we had just seen

  匟e might have been turned to stone. 阿尔芒木然不动,两眼凝视着这个已出空的墓穴;脸色就像刚才我们看见的死尸那样惨白……他似乎变成一块石头了。

   I saw what would happen when, away from this scene, his grief subsided and would consequently be no longer able to sustain him.

  我知道在这个场面过去,支持着他的那种痛苦缓解以后,将会发生些什么事情。

   I went up to the superintendent.

  我走近警长。

   'Is the presence of this gentleman, ' I said, gesturing towards Armand, 'required for anything else?'

  “这位先生,”我指着阿尔芒对他说,“是不是还有必要留在这儿?”

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名著·茶花女 - 第13节