名著·茶花女 - 第19节

　　“您那位朋友是个什么样的人？”

'He's a charming fellow, very witty. He'll be delighted to meet you.'

　　“一个非常漂亮和聪明的小伙子，他认识您一定会感到很高兴。”

'Very well, then, it's agreed, all four of us will leave after this play is finished, for I've seen the last one before.'

　　“那么，就这样吧，等这幕戏完了以后我们三人一起走，最后一幕我已经看过了。”

'Splendid. I'll go and tell my friend.'

　　“好吧，我去通知我的朋友。”

'Off you go.'

　　“您去吧。”

　　“喂！”我正要出去的时候，普律当丝对我说，“您看，走进玛格丽特包厢的就是那位公爵。”

I looked.

　　我朝那边望去。

And indeed, a man of seventy had just sat down behind the young woman and was giving her a bag of sweets which, with a smile, she began to eat at once, and then she pushed them across the front ledge of her box with a sign to Prudence which could be translated as:

　　果然，一个七十来岁的老头儿刚刚在这个年轻女人的身后坐下来，还递给她一袋蜜饯，她赶紧笑眯眯地从纸袋里掏出蜜饯，然后又把那袋蜜饯递送到包厢前面，向普律当丝扬了扬，意思是说：

'Do you want some?'

　　“您要来一点吗？”

'No, ' was Prudence's reply.

　　“不要，”普律当丝说。

　　玛格丽特拿起那袋蜜饯，转过身去，开始和公爵聊天。

So exact an account of all these detailed happenings must seem very childish, but anything connected with that girl is so present in my recollection that I cannot help but remember it all now.

　　把这些琐事都讲出来似乎有些孩子气，但是与这个姑娘有关的一切事情我都记得清清楚楚，因此，今天我还是禁不住一一地想起来了。

I went down to let Gaston know what I had just arranged for him and me.

　　我下楼告诉加斯东我刚才为我们两人所作的安排。

He was game.

　　他同意了。

We left our seats in the stalls and made for Madame Duvernoy's box.

　　我们离开座位想到楼上迪韦尔诺瓦夫人的包厢里去。

　　刚一打开正厅的门，我们就不得不站住，让玛格丽特和公爵走出去。

I would have given ten years of my life to have been in that old man's shoes.

　　我真情愿少活十年来换得这个老头儿的位置。

When he reached the boulevard, he handed her up into a phaeton, which he drove himself, and they disappeared, borne away at a trot by two superb horses.

　　到了街上，公爵扶玛格丽特坐上一辆四轮敞篷马车，自己驾着那辆车子，两匹骏马拉着他们得得地远去了。

We entered Prudence's box.

　　我们走进了普律当丝的包厢。

When the play was over, we went down and got an ordinary cab which took us to 7 rue d'Antin. When we reached her door, Prudence invited us up to view her business premises, which we had never seen before, and of which she seemed very proud. You can imagine how eagerly I accepted.

　　这一出戏结束后，我们下楼走出剧院，雇了一辆普通的出租马车，车子把我们送到了昂坦街七号。到了普律当丝家门口，她邀请我们上楼到她家里去参观她引以自豪的那些商品，让我们开开眼界。可想而知我是多么心急地接受了她的邀请。

　　我仿佛觉得自己正在一步步地向玛格丽特靠拢，不多会儿，我就把话题转到玛格丽特身上。

'Is the old Duke with your neighbour?' I asked Prudence.

　　“那个老公爵这会儿在您女邻居家里吗？”我对普律当丝说。

'No, no; she's most likely on her own.'

　　“不在，她肯定一个人在家。”

'But she'll be terribly bored, ' said Gaston.

　　“那她一定会感到非常寂寞的，”加斯东说。

'We usually spend our evenings together or, when she gets home, she calls down to me. She never goes to bed before two in the morning. She can't get to sleep before then.'

　　“我们每天晚上几乎都是在一起消磨时间的，不然就是她从外面回来以后再叫我过去。她在夜里两点以前是从不睡觉的，早了她睡不着。”

　　“为什么？”

'Because she's got consumption, and she's almost always feverish.'

　　“因为她有肺病，她差不多一直在发烧。”

'Doesn't she have any lovers?' I asked.

　　“她没有情人吗？”我问。

'I never see anybody staying behind when I leave, but I don't say there's nobody comes after I've gone. When I'm there of an evening, I often come across a certain Count de N who thinks he can get somewhere with her by paying calls at eleven o'clock and sending her all the jewels she could possibly want; but she can't stand the sight of him. She's wrong, he's a very rich young man. I tell her from time to time, not that it does a bit of good: "My dear child, he's just the man for you!" She listens to me well enough ordinarily, but then she turns her back on me and answers that he is too stupid. He may be stupid, I grant you, but he'd set her up on a good footing, whereas that old Duke could die from one day to the next. Old men are selfish; his family are always on at him about his affection for Marguerite: that makes two reasons why he'll not leave her a penny. I'm forever going on at her about it, but she says that there'll still be time enough to say yes to the Count when the Duke's dead.

　　“每次我去她家的时候，从未看见有人留在她那儿，但是我不能担保就没有人等我走了以后再回去。晚上我在她家里经常遇到一位N伯爵，这位伯爵自以为只要经常在晚上十一时去拜访她，她要多少首饰就给她多少首饰，这样就能渐渐地得到她的好感。但是她看见他就讨厌。她错了，他是一个阔少爷。我经常对她说：‘亲爱的孩子，他是您需要的男人！’但是毫无用处。她平时很听我的话，但一听到我讲这句话时就转过脸去，回答我说这个人太蠢了。说他蠢，我也承认，但是对她来说，总算是有了一个着落吧，那个老公爵说不定哪一天就要归天的。老公爵什么也不会留给玛格丽特的，这有两个原因：这些老头子个个都是自私的，再加他家里人一直反对他对玛格丽特的钟爱。我和她讲道理，想说服她，她总是回答我说，等公爵死了，再跟伯爵好也来得及。”

'It's not always much fun, ' Prudence continued, 'living the way she does. I can tell you it wouldn't do for me. I'd send the old relic packing. He's a dull old thing: he calls her his daughter, looks after her like a little child, and is forever hovering round her. I'm pretty sure that even at this time of night one of his servants is hanging about in the street to see who comes out and especially who goes in.'

　　普律当丝继续说：“像她这样的生活并不总是很有趣的，这我是很清楚的。这种生活我就受不了，我会很快把这个老家伙撵跑的。这个老头儿简直叫人腻烦死了；他把玛格丽特称作他的女儿，把她当成孩子似的照顾她，他一直在监视她，我可以肯定眼下就有他的一个仆人在街上走来走去，看看有谁从她屋里出来，尤其是看看有谁走进她的家里。”