名著·茶花女 - 第29节

　　我在家里再也呆不住了，我感到自己的房间似乎太小，怎么也容纳不下我的幸福，我需要向整个大自然倾诉衷肠。

I went out.

　　我到外面去了。

I walked by the rue d'Antin. Marguerite's brougham was waiting at her door; I headed in the direction of the Champs-Elysees. I loved all the people I met, even though I had never seen any of them before.

　　我走过昂坦街。玛格丽特的马车停在门口等她；我向香榭丽舍大街那边走去。凡是我所遇到的行人，即使是我不认识的，我都感到亲切！

Love brings out the best in us!

　　爱情使一切变得多么美好啊！

After an hour of walking from the Marly Horses to the Rond-Point and from the Rond-Point to the Marly Horses, I saw Marguerite's carriage in the distance: I did not recognize it, I just knew it was hers.

　　我在玛尔利石马像和圆形广场之间来回溜达了一个小时，我远远看到了玛格丽特的车子，我并不是认出来的，而是猜出来的。

　　在香榭丽舍大街拐角上，她叫车子停下来，一个高个子的年轻人离开了正在跟他一起谈话的一群人，迎上前去和她交谈。

They talked together for a few moments; the young man rejoined his friends, the horses set off again, and as I approached the group, I now recognized the man who had spoken to Marguerite as the same Count de G whose portrait I had seen and whom Prudence had pointed out as the person to whom Marguerite owed her notoriety.

　　他们谈了一会儿；年轻人又回到他那些朋友中去了。马车继续往前行进，我走近那群人，认出了这个跟玛格丽特讲话的人就是G伯爵，我曾经看到过他的肖像，普律当丝告诉过我玛格丽特今日的地位就是他造成的。

It was he who had been forbidden her door the previous night. I assumed that she had ordered her carriage to stop to explain the reasons for his exclusion and, at the same time, I hoped that she had found some new excuse for not receiving him the next night either.

　　他就是玛格丽特头天晚上嘱咐挡驾的那个人，我猜想她刚才把车停下是为了向他解释昨晚不让他进门的原因，但愿她这时能再找到一个借口请他今晚也别来了。

How the rest of the day passed, I do not know. I walked, I smoked, I talked, but by ten in the evening, I had no recollection of what I had said or the people I had met.

　　我一点也记不得这一天剩下来的时间是怎么过的；我散步、抽烟、跟人聊天，但是，到了晚上十点钟，我一点儿也记不起那天晚上遇到过什么人，讲过些什么话。

All I remember is that I returned to my rooms, spent three hours getting ready, and looked a hundred times at my clock and my watch which, unfortunately, both continued to tell the same time.

　　我所能记得起来的只是：我回到家里，打扮了三个小时，我成百次地瞧着我的钟和表，不幸的是它们走得都一样地慢。

　　十点半一响，我想该去赴约会啦！

In those days, I lived in the rue de Provence; I walked down the rue du Mont Blanc, crossed the Boulevard, went along the rue Louis-le-Grand, the rue de Port-Mahon and the rue d'Antin. I looked up at Marguerite's windows.

　　我那时住在普罗旺斯街①，我沿着勃朗峰街前进，穿过林荫大道，经过路易大帝街和马洪港街，最后来到了昂坦街，我望了望玛格丽特的窗户。

There was light in them.

　　里面有灯光。

I rang.

　　我拉了门铃。

I asked the porter if Mademoiselle Gautier was at home.

　　我问看门人戈蒂埃小姐是不是在家。

　　他回答我说戈蒂埃小姐从来不在十一点钟或者十一点一刻之前回来。

I looked at my watch.

　　我看了看表。

I thought that I had come at leisurely stroll, but I had taken just five minutes to come from the rue de Provence to Marguerite's.

　　我原以为自己走得很慢，实际上我从普罗旺斯街走到玛格丽特家只花了五分钟！

So I walked up and down her shopless street which was deserted at that time of night.

　　于是，我就在这条没有商店、此时已冷冷清清的街上来回徘徊。

At the end of half an hour, Marguerite arrived. She stepped down from her brougham and looked around as though she were watching out for someone.

　　半小时后玛格丽特来了。她从马车上下来，一面环顾四周，好像在找什么人似的。

　　车子慢慢驶走了，因为马厩和车棚不在这座房子里面，玛格丽特正要拉门铃的时候，我走上前去对她说：

'Good evening.'

　　“晚安！”

'Oh! it's you, is it?' she said, in a tone which did little to reassure me that she was pleased to see me.

　　“哦！是您呀？”她对我说，语气似乎她并不怎么高兴在这里看到我。

'Didn't you say I could come and call on you today?'

　　“您不是答应我今天来看您的吗？”

'So I did. I'd forgotten.' These words overturned everything I had thought that morning, everything I had been hoping for all day. However, I was beginning to get used to her ways and did not storm off ?which I should of course have done at once

　　“噢，对了，我倒忘记了。” 这句话把我早晨的幻想和白天的希望一扫而光。不过，我已经开始习惯了她这种态度，因此我没有转身而去，如果在从前，我肯定会一走了之的。

　　我们进了屋子。

Nanine had opened the door ahead of us.

　　纳尼娜已预先把门打开。

'Is Prudence back?' asked Marguerite.

　　“普律当丝回来了没有？”玛格丽特问道。

'No, Madame.'

　　“还没有，太太。”

'Go and say that she is to come the minute she gets in. But first, turn out the lamp in the drawing-room, and if anyone comes, say I'm not back and won't be coming back.'

　　“去通知一声要她一回来就到这儿来，先把客厅里的灯灭掉，如果有人来，就说我还没有回来，今天也不回来了。”

　　很明显这个女人心里有事，也可能是讨厌某个不知趣的人。我简直不知所措，不知说什么才好，玛格丽特向她的卧室走去，我呆在原地木然不动。

'Come, ' she said.

　　“来吧，”她对我说。

She took off her hat and her velvet cloak, and tossed them on to her bed, then sank into a large arm-chair in front of the fire, which she always kept lit until the beginning of each summer and, playing with her watch- chain, said:

　　她除下帽子，脱掉天鹅绒外衣，把它们全都扔在床上，随即躺倒在火炉旁边一张大扶手椅里，这只炉子里的火她吩咐一直要生到春末夏初。她一面玩着她的表链一面对我说：

'Well then, and what news have you got to tell me?'

　　“嗳，有什么新闻跟我谈谈？”

'No news ?except that I was wrong to come here this evening.'

　　“什么也没有，不过今晚我不该来。”