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“倘使玛格丽特一定要见我，她知道我住在哪儿，让她来好啦，我是不会再到昂坦街去了。” 'And you'd be nice to her?' “那您会好好接待她吗？” 'I'd behave perfectly.' “一定招待周到。” 'Well, I'm sure she'll come.' “好吧，我可以肯定她会来的。” 'Let her.' “让她来吧。” 
“今天您出去吗？” 'I shall be home all evening.' “整个晚上我都在家。” 'I'll go and tell her.' “我去对她说。” Prudence left. 普律当丝走了。 I did not even bother to write and let Olympe know that I should not be going to see her. I behaved pretty much as I liked towards her. I hardly spent one night a week with her now. She found consolation with, I believe, an actor from one or other of the Boulevard theatres. 我甚至没有给奥林普写信，告诉她我不到她那里去了，对这个姑娘我是随随便便的。一星期我难得和她过上一夜。我相信她会从大街上随便哪一家戏院的男演员那儿得到安慰的。 
我吃晚饭时出去了一下，几乎马上就赶了回来。我吩咐把所有的炉子都点上火，还把约瑟夫打发走了。 I could not give you any sort of account of the various thoughts which troubled my mind during the hour I waited. But when I heard the doorbell, at around nine o'clock, they all came together in one emotion so powerful that, as I went to open the door, I was obliged to lean against the wall to prevent myself falling. 我无法把我等待着的那一个小时里的种种想法告诉您，我心情太激动了。当我在九点左右听到门铃声的时候，我百感交集，心乱如麻，以致去开门的时候，不得不扶着墙壁以防跌倒。 Fortunately, the hallway was only half-lit, so that the change in my features was less noticeable. 幸好会客室里光线暗淡，不容易看出我那变得很难看的脸色。 Marguerite came in. 玛格丽特进来了。 She was dressed entirely in black and wore a veil. I could only just make out her face beneath the lace. 她穿了一身黑衣服，还蒙着面纱，我几乎认不出她在面纱下的脸容。 
她走进客厅，揭开了面纱。 She was as pale as marble. 她的脸像大理石一样惨白。 'Here I am, Armand, ' she said. 'You wanted to see me. I came.' “我来了，阿尔芒，”她说，“您希望我来，我就来了。” And, lowering her head which she took in both hands, she burst into tears. 随后，她低下头，双手捂着脸痛哭起来。 I went up to her. 我向她走去。 
“您怎么啦？”我对她说，我的声音都变了。 She pressed my hand without replying, for the tears still dimmed her voice. But a few moments later, having regained something of her composure, she said: 她紧紧握住我的手，不回答我的话，因为她已经泣不成声。过了一会儿，她平静了一些，就对我说： 'You have hurt me a great deal, Armand, and I never did anything to you.' “您害得我好苦，阿尔芒，而我却没有什么对不起您。” 'Never did anything?' I replied, with a bitter smile. “没有什么对不起我吗？”我带着苦笑争辩说。 'Nothing, except what circumstances forced me to do to you.' “除了环境逼得我不得不做的以外，我什么也没有做。” 
我看到玛格丽特时心里所产生的感觉，不知道在您的一生中是否感受过，或者在将来是否会感受到。 The last time she had come to my apartment, she had sat in the same chair where she was now sitting. But since those days, she had been another man's mistress; other kisses than mine had brushed those lips towards which my own were now involuntarily drawn. And yet I felt that I loved her no less, and perhaps even more, than I had ever loved her. 上次她到我家里来的时候，她就是坐在她刚坐下的地方。只不过从此以后，她已成为别人的情妇；她的嘴唇不是被我，而是被别人吻过了，但我还是不由自主地把嘴唇凑了上去。我觉得我还是和以前一样爱着这个女人，可能比以前爱得还要热烈些。 However, it was difficult for me to broach the subject which had brought her. Most likely Marguerite understood this, for she went on: 然而我很难开口谈为什么叫她到这里来的理由，玛格丽特大概了解了我的意思，因为她接着又说： 'My coming here will be tiresome for you, Armand, for I have two requests to make: your forgiveness for what I said to Mademoiselle Olympe yesterday, and your mercy for what you may still be thinking of doing to me. Whether you wanted to or not, you have hurt me so much since your return that I should not now be able to stand a quarter of the emotions which I have borne up to this morning. You will have pity on me, won't you? And you will remember that there are nobler things for a good man to do than to take his revenge against a woman as ill and as wretched as I am. Come. Take my hand. I am feverish: I left my bed to come here to ask, not for your friendship, but for your indifference.' “我打扰您了，阿尔芒，因为我来求您两件事：原谅我昨天对奥林普小姐说的话；别再做您可能还要对我做的事，饶了我吧。不论您是不是有意的，从您回来以后，您给了我很多痛苦，我已经受不了啦，即使像我今天早晨所受的痛苦的四分之一，我也受不了啦！您会可怜我的，是不是？而且您也明白，像您这样一个好心肠的人，还有很多比对一个像我这样多愁多病的女人报复更加高尚的事要干呢。您摸摸我的手，我在发烧，我离开卧床不是为了来向您要求友谊，而是请您别再把我放在心上了。” As she asked, I took Marguerite's hand. It was hot, and the poor woman was shivering beneath her velvet cloak. 我拿起玛格丽特的手，她的手果然烧得烫人，这个可怜的女人裹在天鹅绒大衣里面，浑身哆嗦。 
我把她坐着的扶手椅推到火炉边上。 'Do you imagine that I didn't suffer, ' I resumed, 'that night when, after waiting for you in the country, I came looking for you in Paris where all I found was that letter which almost drove me out of my mind? “您以为我就不痛苦吗？”我接着说，“那天晚上我先在乡下等您，后来又到巴黎来找您，我在巴黎只是找到了那封几乎使我发疯的信。 'How could you have deceived me, Marguerite? I loved you so much!' “您怎么能欺骗我呢，玛格丽特，我以前是多么爱您啊！” 'Let's not speak of that, Armand, I did not come here to speak of that. I wanted to see you other than as an enemy, that's all, and I wanted to hold your hand once more. You have a young, pretty mistress whom you love, so they say be happy with her and forget me.' “别谈这些了，阿尔芒，我不是来跟您谈这些的。我希望我们不要像仇人似的见面，仅此而已。我还要跟您再握一次手，您有了一位您喜欢的、年轻美貌的情妇，愿你俩幸福，把我忘了吧。” 'And what of you? I suppose you're happy?' “那么您呢，您一定是幸福的啦？” 
“我的脸像一个幸福的女人吗？阿尔芒，别拿我的痛苦来开玩笑，您比谁都清楚我痛苦的原因和程度。” 'It was entirely up to you never to be unhappy, if, that is, you are as unhappy as you say.' “如果您真像您所说的那样不幸，那么您要改变这种状况也取决于您自己呀。” 'No, my friend, circumstances were too strong for my will. I did not follow my immoral instincts as you seem to be saying, but obeyed a solemn injunction and yielded to arguments which, when some day you know what they were, will make you forgive me.' “不，我的朋友，我的意志犟不过客观环境，您似乎是说我顺从了我做妓女的天性。不是的，我服从了一个严肃的需要，这些原因您总有一天会知道的，您也会因此原谅我。” 'Why not tell me now what these arguments are?' “这些原因您为什么不在今天就告诉我呢？” 'Because they would not bring us together again, for we can never be together again, and because they might alienate you from those from whom you must not be alienated.' “因为告诉了您这些原因也不可能使我们重归于好，也许还会使您疏远您不应该疏远的人。”
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