第二章 达尼埃尔·德阿泰兹
《德卡迪央王妃的秘密》第二章 达尼埃尔·德阿泰兹,页面无弹窗的全文阅读!
A few days after this conversation Blondet and Rastignac, who knew d'Arthez, promised Madame d'Espard that they would bring him to dine with her. This promise might have proved rash had it not been for the name of the princess, a meeting with whom was not a matter of indifference to the great writer.
这次谈话几天后，布隆代和拉斯蒂涅（他们都认识德阿泰兹）答应德帕夫人设法带德阿泰兹到她家赴宴。他们事先说好王妃也会在场，否则这种许诺会显得草率，毕竟对于一个著名的作家而言，同王妃的会面不是那么随便的事。
Daniel d'Arthez, one of the rare men who, in our day, unite a noble character with great talent, had already obtained, not all the popularity his works deserve, but a respectful esteem to which souls of his own calibre could add nothing. His reputation will certainly increase; but in the eyes of connoisseurs it had already attained its full development. He is one of those authors who, sooner or later, are put in their right place, and never lose it. A poor nobleman, he had understood his epoch well enough to seek personal distinction only. He had struggled long in the Parisian arena, against the wishes of a rich uncle who, by a contradiction which vanity must explain, after leaving his nephew a prey to the utmost penury, bequeathed to the man who had reached celebrity the fortune so pitilessly refused to the unknown writer. This sudden change in his position made no change in Daniel d'Arthez's habits; he continued to work with a simplicity worthy of the antique past, and even assumed new toils by accepting a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, where he took his seat on the Right.
达尼埃尔·德阿泰兹集高尚的品格和伟大的天才于一身，是我们这一时代少有的人物之一，即便他的作品还没有得到所有人的欢迎，但至少他已得到学术界的尊敬和好评。当然他的声望还会继续升高；但在一些业内人士看来，他已经获得了足够的荣耀。他属于那种最终会得到社会认可的作家，一旦确立地位，就会岿然不动。他虽出身贵族，却一贫如洗，他深深了解他所处的这个时代，只追求个人殊荣。他没有按照他一个富有叔父的意愿行事，而是选择在巴黎这个竞技的大舞台上奋斗。他的叔父在他极度贫困的时候，无情地拒绝援助他，而在他成名后却又突然赠给他一笔财产。这种极为矛盾的做法完全是虚荣心所致。而身份地位的突然转变并未改变达尼埃尔·德阿尔泰兹的生活习惯；他继续像过去一样，简朴地从事着自己的工作，即便是他接受了众议院右翼议员的席位并在那里任职。
Since his accession to fame he had sometimes gone into society. One of his old friends, the now-famous physician, Horace Bianchon, persuaded him to make the acquaintance of the Baron de Rastignac, under—secretary of State, and a friend of de Marsay, the prime minister. These two political officials acquiesced, rather nobly, in the strong wish of d'Arthez, Bianchon, and other friends of Michel Chrestien for the removal of the body of that republican to the church of Saint-Merri for the purpose of giving it funeral honors. Gratitude for a service which contrasted with the administrative rigor displayed at a time when political passions were so violent, had bound, so to speak, d'Arthez to Rastignac. The latter and de Marsay were much too clever not to profit by that circumstance; and thus they won over other friends of Michel Chrestien, who did not share his political opinions, and who now attached themselves to the new government. One of them, Leon Giraud, appointed in the first instance master of petitions, became eventually a Councillor of State.
他自从名声鹊起之后，有时也出入交际场所。他的一个老朋友，出色的医生奥拉斯·毕安训劝他与拉斯蒂涅男爵结识，此人是议会某部的副秘书长，和德马尔塞首相是好友。这两位政客相当绅士地默许自愿帮助德阿泰兹、毕安训和米歇尔·克雷斯蒂安生前的其他几位好友，将这位共和党人的遗体运到修道院并为他举行体面的葬礼。在当时那个充满暴力的政治环境下，行政处罚极其严酷，在这样的险境下提供这样的帮助实属不易。正是出于感激之情，德阿泰斯和拉斯蒂涅的关系变得密切。这位副国务秘书和德马尔塞如此高明地利用当时的环境；最终他们赢得了米歇尔·克雷斯蒂的几个朋友的信任，这些人起初与德马尔塞的政见并不相同，但这些人现在也都支持新政府。其中一个叫莱昂·吉罗的，先是被任命为行政法院查案主事，最后做到参政院议员。
The whole existence of Daniel d'Arthez is consecrated to work; he sees society only by snatches; it is to him a sort of dream. His house is a convent, where he leads the life of a Benedictine; the same sobriety of regimen, the same regularity of occupation. His friends knew that up to the present time woman had been to him no more than an always dreaded circumstance; he had observed her too much not to fear her; but by dint of studying her he had ceased to understand her,—like, in this, to those deep strategists who are always beaten on unexpected ground, where their scientific axioms are either modified or contradicted. In character he still remains a simple-hearted child, all the while proving himself an observer of the first rank. This contrast, apparently impossible, is explainable to those who know how to measure the depths which separate faculties from feelings; the former proceed from the head, the latter from the heart. A man can be a great man and a wicked one, just as he can be a fool and a devoted lover. D'Arthez is one of those privileged beings in whom shrewdness of mind and a broad expanse of the qualities of the brain do not exclude either the strength or the grandeur of sentiments. He is, by rare privilege, equally a man of action and a man of thought. His private life is noble and generous. If he carefully avoided love, it was because he knew himself, and felt a premonition of the empire such a passion would exercise upon him.
达尼埃尔·德阿尔泰兹的一生都投入到工作当中；他对社会的了解支离破碎；对他来说社会只是一种虚幻的梦境。他的家像个修道院，在这里他过着本笃会修道士般的生活：有节制地饮食，有规律地工作。他的朋友都知道至今他仍害怕和女人接触，那会令他窒息；他对女人观察得太细致了以至于对其产生了一种恐惧感；结果对女人的研究越深入，越不了解女人——就像那些高深的战略家一样，总会在一些意料不到的阵地被击败，因为此时的实际情况与他们在书上看到的理论不相符或相悖。如今他依然是一个心思纯净的小伙子，却总是摆出观察员的派头来。表面上看，这种对比让人难以接受，但是对于那些善于把握才能和情感之间尺度的人来说，可以解释得通：有才能的人用头脑行事，心思细腻的人则凭借感情。因此一个人可以既邪恶又伟大，就像一个傻瓜同时又是个忠实的情人一样。德阿泰兹就是这样一个幸运儿，他才思敏捷，精力充沛，既拥有坚强的意志，又不乏伟大的感情。他既是实干家，又是思想家，拥有这种罕见的天赋。他的个人生活高尚而丰富。如果他刻意回避爱情，那是因为他有自知之明，他预感爱情的威力会给他带来很大的影响。
For several years the crushing toil by which he prepared the solid ground of his subsequent works, and the chill of poverty, were marvellous preservatives.
数年来，他辛苦地工作，以便为自己接下来的创作打好坚实的基础，加之凄惨的生活，倒成了防止他生活堕落的预防剂。
But when ease with his inherited fortune came to him, he formed a vulgar and most incomprehensible connection with a rather handsome woman, belonging to the lower classes, without education or manners, whom he carefully concealed from every eye. Michel Chrestien attributed to men of genius the power of transforming the most massive creatures into sylphs, fools into clever women, peasants into countesses; the more accomplished a woman was, the more she lost her value in their eyes, for, according to Michel, their imagination had the less to do. In his opinion love, a mere matter of the senses to inferior beings, was to great souls the most immense of all moral creations and the most binding. To justify d'Arthez, he instanced the example of Raffaele and the Fornarina. He might have offered himself as an instance for this theory, he who had seen an angel in the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse. This strange fancy of d'Arthez might, however, be explained in other ways; perhaps he had despaired of meeting here below with a woman who answered to that delightful vision which all men of intellect dream of and cherish; perhaps his heart was too sensitive, too delicate, to yield itself to a woman of society; perhaps he thought best to let nature have her way, and keep his illusions by cultivating his ideal; perhaps he had laid aside love as being incompatible with his work and the regularity of a monastic life which love would have wholly upset.
但生活渐渐富裕以后，他同一个漂亮的女人有了一段庸俗的、让人最捉摸不透的恋情：这个女人出身下层阶级，没有受过什么教育，也毫无高贵的气质，但却被他小心地呵护着。米歇尔·克雷斯蒂曾承认天才人物能将最普通的女人变成窈窕淑女，使愚笨的女人变成才女，将村妇变成侯爵夫人；越是有成就的女人在他们眼里越是没有价值；因为米歇尔认为天才人物的想象力在这些女人身上发挥不了太大的作用。他认为，爱情之于下等人，只是感官的需要；而之于崇高的灵魂，则是最伟大、最具吸引力的精神创造。为了替德阿泰兹辩解，他还举了拉斐尔和福娜丽娜的例子。其实他本可举自己作为这种理论的一个例子：他曾将德摩弗里纽斯公爵夫人看成一个天使。可以从其他方面来解释德阿泰兹的这种奇怪的幻想：他可能早就感到绝望，认为根本找不到一个符合所有仁人志士所梦想和期待的尘世上的美女；或许是他的心太过敏感、太过细腻，不愿结交一个世俗女子；抑或他认为最好还是顺其自然，继续幻想理想的爱人；或者是他认为爱情与工作无法协调，而且妨碍他的隐士生活而将这件事搁置。
For several months past d'Arthez had been subjected to the jests and satire of Blondet and Rastignac, who reproached him with knowing neither the world nor women. According to them, his authorship was sufficiently advanced, and his works numerous enough, to allow him a few distractions; he had a fine fortune, and here he was living like a student; he enjoyed nothing,—neither his money nor his fame; he was ignorant of the exquisite enjoyments of the noble and delicate love which well-born and well-bred women could inspire and feel; he knew nothing of the charming refinements of language, nothing of the proofs of affection incessantly given by refined women to the commonest things. He might, perhaps, know woman; but he knew nothing of the divinity. Why not take his rightful place in the world, and taste the delights of Parisian society?
过去的几个月，布隆代和德拉斯蒂涅经常嘲笑讽刺德阿泰兹，责备他根本不了解这个世界，也不了解女人。他们认为像他这样一个相当有成就、相当多产的人可以享受一下生活了；他拥有丰厚的财产，却还过着学生般的生活；他既不懂得享用金钱，也不懂得享用功名；他既摒弃贵族阶级放纵奢华的生活，也不喜欢贵族出身的女人所向往和体验的美妙的爱情；他不会说一些甜言蜜语，且对浓妆艳抹的女人不断提及的鸡毛蒜皮之事毫无兴致。他或许了解女人；但他对女人的神性一无所知。他应该在巴黎社会中找到适合自己的位置，细细地品味生活的快乐。
"Why doesn't a man who bears party per bend gules and or, a bezant and crab counterchanged," cried Rastignac, "display that ancient escutcheon of Picardy on the panels of a carriage? You have thirty thousand francs a year, and the proceeds of your pen; you have justified your motto: Ars thesaurusque virtus, that punning device our ancestors were always seeking, and yet you never appear in the Bois de Boulogne! We live in times when virtue ought to show itself.”
“你家有正面红、金两色斜线分角式，反面镶有珐琅图案的盾形家徽，你为什么不把这个皮卡尔迪古老盾章镶在你的马车上？”拉斯蒂涅喊道，“你每年有三万法郎的收入，外加你的稿费；你也证实了你的箴言：艺术乃德行的宝库（这是一句拉丁文）这句话用了双关的艺术手法，也是我们祖先一直追求的境界，而你从未到布洛涅森林漫游过，却得出这样的箴言，这是值得骄傲的事。我们生活的这个时代需要自己用德行去彰显自己。”
"If you read your works to that species of stout Laforet, whom you seem to fancy, I would forgive you," said Blondet. "But, my dear fellow, you are living on dry bread, materially speaking; in the matter of intellect you haven't even bread.”
“如果拉弗雷特那样的庸俗女人能够读懂你的作品，能给你带来快乐，你就把她留下，我会原谅你的。”布隆代说，“可是我亲爱的朋友，在物质上来讲，你要是仅仅满足于干面包的话，那么在精神方面你甚至连面包都没有。”
This friendly little warfare had been going on for several months between Daniel and his friends, when Madame d'Espard asked Rastignac and Blondet to induce d'Arthez to come and dine with her, telling them that the Princesse de Cadignan had a great desire to see that celebrated man. Such curiosities are to certain women what magic lanterns are to children,—a pleasure to the eyes, but rather shallow and full of disappointments. The more sentiments a man of talent excites at a distance, the less he responds to them on nearer view; the more brilliant fancy has pictured him, the duller he will seem in reality. Consequently, disenchanted curiosity is often unjust.
达尼埃尔和他的朋友们之间的这种友好的小征战持续了好几个月，这时德帕夫人请求拉斯蒂涅和布隆代劝说德阿泰兹到她家赴宴，并告诉他们说德卡迪央王妃非常渴望认识这位伟大的人物。一些女人对这类事情的好奇心就像孩子们痴迷魔幻的走马灯一样，只是为了换取眼球的片刻欢愉，却往往流于肤浅，令人失望。一个天才人物越是在远处有名声，那么靠近他时就会越失望；人们越是把他幻想得光芒四射，现实中他就会越显得黯然失色。因此，人一旦失去了好奇心就会常常做出不公正的评价。
Neither Blondet nor Rastignac could deceive d'Arthez; but they told him, laughing, that they now offered him a most seductive opportunity to polish up his heart and know the supreme fascinations which love conferred on a Parisian great lady. The princess was evidently in love with him; he had nothing to fear but everything to gain by accepting the interview; it was quite impossible he could descend from the pedestal on which madame de Cadignan had placed him. Neither Blondet nor Rastignac saw any impropriety in attributing this love to the princess; she whose past had given rise to so many anecdotes could very well stand that lesser calumny. Together they began to relate to d'Arthez the adventures of the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse: her first affair with de Marsay; her second with d'Ajuda, whom she had, they said, distracted from his wife, thus avenging Madame de Beausant; also her later connection with young d'Esgrignon, who had travelled with her in Italy, and had horribly compromised himself on her account; after that they told him how unhappy she had been with a certain celebrated ambassador, how happy with a Russian general, besides becoming the Egeria of two ministers of Foreign affairs, and various other anecdotes. D'Arthez replied that he knew a great deal more than they could tell him about her through their poor friend, Michel Chrestien, who adored her secretly for four years, and had well-nigh gone mad about her.
不管是布隆代还是拉斯蒂涅都不会欺骗德阿泰兹；但他们笑着告诉他说，现在他们将给他提供一个可以洗涤心灵的绝佳机会，还可以体验来自一位巴黎贵妇所给予的崇高爱情。再说王妃无疑是爱上他了；他没有什么可担心的，只要接受这次邀请他就会赢得一切。他绝不会从德卡迪央夫人为他安置的台座上掉下来的。布隆代和拉斯蒂涅都不认为他们之间的爱情有什么不妥。她过去有许多风流韵事，当然可以经得住轻微的诽谤。于是，两个人开始轮流给德阿泰兹讲述德摩弗里纽斯公爵夫人的风流韵事：最初是和德马尔赛恋爱，第二次和德阿瞿达之间的暧昧行为拆散了他的家庭，并借此向德博桑夫人报复；后来她又和年轻的德埃斯格里尼来往，这个男人陪她到意大利旅行，并为了这个女人使自己声名狼藉；再后来她又和一位出色的大使搞得很不愉快，和一位俄国上将倒是很幸福；还有她怎样成为两位外交部长的顾问等等。德阿泰兹告诉他们他是从可怜的亡友米歇尔·克雷斯蒂安那里得知关于王妃的事，比他们告诉他的还要多，因为克雷斯蒂安暗恋她四年，几乎为她发了疯。
"I have often accompanied him," said Daniel, "to the opera. He would make me run through the streets as far as her horses that he might see the princess through the window of her coupe."
“我经常和他一块去意大利歌剧院。”达尼埃尔说，那时我经常陪着这位朋友在街道上跟着她的马车跑，速度几乎比得上拉车的马，为的是能够透过车窗一睹王妃的芳容。”
"Well, there you have a topic all ready for you," said Blondet, smiling. "This is the very woman you need; she'll initiate you most gracefully into the mysteries of elegance; but take care! she has wasted many fortunes. The beautiful Diane is one of those spendthrifts who don't cost a penny, but for whom a man spends millions. Give yourself up to her, body and soul, if you choose; but keep your money in your hand, like the old fellow in Girodet's 'Deluge.'”
“那么你们就有了一个共同的话题了。”布隆代笑着说，“她才是配得上你的女人；她会亲近你，并且温柔地告诉你如何使自己行为优雅，但是你得当心！她曾经耗尽了许多有钱人的钱财。美丽的迪亚娜是一个十足的挥霍者，她不会让别人为她花一分钱，但却有人愿意为她花成千上百万法郎。你尽管全心全意去爱她吧，但是要守住你的财产，就像吉罗德《洪水》中的老头一样。”
From the tenor of these remarks it was to be inferred that the princess had the depth of a precipice, the grace of a queen, the corruption of diplomatists, the mystery of a first initiation, and the dangerous qualities of a siren. The two clever men of the world, incapable of foreseeing the denouement of their joke, succeeded in presenting Diane d'Uxelles as a consummate specimen of the Parisian woman, the cleverest of coquettes, the most enchanting mistress in the world. Right or wrong, the woman whom they thus treated so lightly was sacred to d'Arthez; his desire to meet her needed no spur; he consented to do so at the first word, which was all the two friends wanted of him.
这番谈话让人觉得王妃深不可测，既有皇后的万般仪态，又有外交官的腐败，同时又给人一种初识的神秘，又让人觉得她像海上女妖之类的危险人物。这两个聪明人无法预知这场闹剧的结局，但却成功地将迪亚娜·德于克赛尔塑造成一个完美的巴黎贵妇，一个聪明的妖艳女郎，一个最让人着迷的情人。不管怎样，这个被他们视为轻浮的女人，对德阿泰兹来说，仍然是神圣而纯洁的。他急切地想要见到她，所以一开始他就同意接受邀请，而这也是两位朋友想要的结果。
Madame d'Espard went to see the princess as soon as she had received this answer.
德帕夫人一得到消息就去拜访王妃。
"My dear, do you feel yourself in full beauty and coquetry?" she said. "If so, come and dine with me a few days hence, and I'll serve up d'Arthez. Our man of genius is by nature, it seems, a savage; he fears women, and has never loved! Make your plans on that. He is all intellect, and so simple that he'll mislead you into feeling no distrust. But his penetration, which is wholly retrospective, acts later, and frustrates calculation. You may hoodwink him to-day, but to-morrow nothing can dupe him.”
“亲爱的，你不觉得自己很漂亮，很迷人吗？”她说。“那么过几天来我家做客吧，我会把德阿泰兹介绍给你。我们的这位天才生性孤僻，最害怕女人，而且从未谈过恋爱。好好计划计划这事吧。他极其聪颖，他的纯朴会打消你的任何怀疑。但他的洞察力属于后发性的，他会后发制人，打乱你的一切计谋。今天你可能蒙骗他，明天就别想让他上你的当了。”
"Ah!" cried the princess, "if I were only thirty years old what amusement I might have with him! The one enjoyment I have lacked up to the present is a man of intellect to fool. I have had only partners, never adversaries. Love was a mere game instead of being a battle."
“啊！”王妃叫道，“要是我只有三十岁，我就能痛快地和他乐一乐！如今我唯一没有体验的快乐就是玩弄一个聪明的男人。我以前碰到的仅仅是伙伴，从未遇到过对手。爱情本身就是一场游戏而非一场战斗。”
"Dear princess, admit that I am very generous; for, after all, you know!—charity begins at home.”
“亲爱的王妃，你得承认我已经够慷慨的了；你知道毕竟施恩于人……”
The two women looked at each other, laughing, and clasped hands in a friendly way. Assuredly they both knew each other's secrets, and this was not the first man nor the first service that one had given to the other; for sincere and lasting friendships between women of the world need to be cemented by a few little crimes. When two friends are liable to kill each other reciprocally, and see a poisoned dagger in each other's hand, they present a touching spectacle of harmony, which is never troubled, unless, by chance, one of them is careless enough to drop her weapon.
两个女人相视而笑，并友好地握了握手。显然她们彼此了解对方的秘密，这种秘密不仅仅与一个男人有关，也不仅仅是一方给另一方提供帮助。因为女人要想使她们之间的友谊持续长久，需要共同使用一些小伎俩才会变得巩固。一旦两个朋友面临冲突，就会拼个你死我活，她们会短兵相接，怒目而视，这种场面是多么惊心动魄，直到其中一位无意中丢掉手中的凶器，才会打破这种可怕的局面。
So, eight days later, a little dinner such as are given to intimates by verbal invitation only, during which the doors are closed to all other visitors, took place at Madame d'Espard's house. Five persons were invited,—Emile Blondet and Madame de Montcornet, Daniel d'Arthez, Rastignac, and the Princesse de Cadignan. Counting the mistress of the house, there were as many men as women.
一个礼拜后，侯爵夫人在家里举行了小型的节日晚宴，那是专门为亲友们举办的晚会，所有的来宾都只接到口头邀请，在那期间外面的大门总是紧闭着，不接待其他来访者。这天的晚会只有五位客人：艾米尔·布隆代和德蒙科尔内夫人，达尼埃尔·德阿泰兹，拉斯蒂涅以及德卡迪央王妃。算上这位女主人刚好男女对半。
Chance never exerted itself to make wiser preparations than those which opened the way to a meeting between d'Arthez and Madame de Cadignan. The princess is still considered one of the chief authorities on dress, which, to women, is the first of arts. On this occasion she wore a gown of blue velvet with flowing white sleeves, and a tulle guimpe, slightly frilled and edged with blue, covering the shoulders, and rising nearly to the throat, as we see in several of Raffaele's portraits. Her maid had dressed her hair with white heather, adroitly placed among its blond cascades, which were one of the great beauties to which she owed her celebrity.
德阿泰兹和德卡迪央王妃的会面绝非偶然，而是经过了精心而周全的准备。王妃的穿着打扮依然无人能比，无疑，这对于女人来说是首要的艺术。这次，她穿了一件衬有白色宽大长袖的蓝色敞胸式天鹅绒长袍，带着一条略微褶皱的蓝色镶边网纱围巾，从脖子一直盖到她的肩部，就像人们在拉斐尔的画像中看到的那样。她的女仆给她梳了别出心裁的发式，将几朵白色的石楠花巧妙地嵌入她那卷曲下垂的金发里面，这头金发也是她赢得美人称号的原因之一。
Certainly Diane did not look to be more than twenty-five years old. Four years of solitude and repose had restored the freshness of her complexion. Besides, there are moments when the desire to please gives an increase of beauty to women. The will is not without influence on the variations of the face. If violent emotions have the power to yellow the white tones of persons of bilious and melancholy temperament, and to green lymphatic faces, shall we not grant to desire, hope, and joy, the faculty of clearing the skin, giving brilliancy to the eye, and brightening the glow of beauty with a light as jocund as that of a lovely morning? The celebrated faintness of the princess had taken on a ripeness which now made her seem more august. At this moment of her life, impressed by her many vicissitudes and by serious reflections, her noble, dreamy brow harmonized delightfully with the slow, majestic glance of her blue eyes. It was impossible for the ablest physiognomist to imagine calculation or self-will beneath that unspeakable delicacy of feature. There were faces of women which deceive knowledge, and mislead observation by their calmness and delicacy; it is necessary to examine such faces when passions speak, and that is difficult, or after they have spoken, which is no longer of any use, for then the woman is old and has ceased to dissimulate.
可以肯定地说，迪亚娜看起来超不过二十五岁。四年的独处生活和充分的修养使她重新焕发了青春。而且，当她们渴求快乐的时候，她们的美貌就会增加。这种意愿随着她们脸部表情的变化而变化。如果激动的情绪能够使坏脾气的、易感伤的人那苍白的肤色变黄，使苍白无力的脸变青，那么我们的欲望、希望、快乐就能够使我们容光焕发，眼睛明亮，为美貌更添光彩，使之如同可爱的清晨那样闪闪发光。王妃独有的迷离如今显得成熟，使她更加令人敬畏。此刻，她正在思考着自己经历过的多次坎坷，认真地反省着自己的过去，这使她那高贵而恍惚的眉毛和她那双蓝眼睛发出的缓慢而庄严的神情自然地融合在一起。即使最高明的相学家，也不可能从她那纤细的面部线条看出她内心隐藏的心机和固执。女人善于利用表情来隐藏心计，她们的冷静和娇弱更是误导人们的观察；因此当她们的情欲发挥作用时，要注意观察她们的面部表情，这也许很困难；而此后的观察将无济于事，因为那时女人会慢慢变老，已经无需掩饰自己了。
The princess is one of those impenetrable women; she can make herself what she pleases to be: playful, childlike, distractingly innocent; or reflective, serious, and profound enough to excite anxiety. She came to Madame d'Espard's dinner with the intention of being a gentle, simple woman, to whom life was known only through its deceptions: a woman full of soul, and calumniated, but resigned,—in short, a wounded angel.
王妃就是这样一个让人琢磨不透的女人。她能够随心所欲地扮演任何角色：淘气顽皮、天真无邪的孩子；有时又变得深邃严肃、高深莫测，让人兴奋得有点急躁。她这次来侯爵夫人家，就有心装扮得温柔清纯，让人觉得她是一个被人多次欺骗的女人；一个心地善良却常遭人诽谤、逆来顺受的女人。总之，自己就像一个受伤的天使。
She arrived early, so as to pose on a sofa near the fire beside Madame d'Espard, as she wished to be first seen: that is, in one of those attitudes in which science is concealed beneath an exquisite naturalness; a studied attitude, putting in relief the beautiful serpentine outline which, starting from the foot, rises gracefully to the hip, and continues with adorable curves to the shoulder, presenting, in fact, a profile of the whole body. With a subtlety which few women would have dreamed of, Diane, to the great amazement of the marquise, had brought her son with her. After a moment's reflection, Madame d'Espard pressed the princess's hand, with a look of intelligence that seemed to say:—
她来得很早，这样就可以挨着德帕夫人坐在壁炉旁边的沙发上，让别人第一眼就看到她：这是一种刻意安排、却掩盖在优美的自然状态下的姿势；一种经过再三琢磨而发现的姿势。这种姿势展示了她那漂亮的身体曲线：从脚踝优雅到胯部，再从圆润凸起的部位过渡到肩部，将整个美丽婀娜的轮廓展现在人们面前。另外，她还有聪明的一手，这是其他女人都不曾想到的，也令侯爵夫人大吃一惊，那就是她带了年轻的儿子陪她赴宴。片刻的沉思之后，德帕夫人警觉地地按了按王妃的手，似乎在说：
"I understand you! By making d'Arthez accept all the difficulties at once you will not have to conquer them later.”
“我懂你的心思！刚开始就让德阿泰兹接受一切困难，以后就不用为这些事费神了。”
Rastignac brought d'Arthez. The princess made none of those compliments to the celebrated author with which vulgar persons overwhelmed him; but she treated him with a kindness full of graceful respect, which, with her, was the utmost extent of her concessions. Her manner was doubtless the same with the King of France and the royal princes. She seemed happy to see this great man, and glad that she had sought him. Persons of taste, like the princess, are especially distinguished for their manner of listening, for an affability without superciliousness, which is to politeness what practice is to virtue. When the celebrated man spoke, she took an attentive attitude, a thousand times more flattering than the best—seasoned compliments. The mutual presentation was made quietly, without emphasis, and in perfectly good taste, by the marquise.
拉斯蒂涅和达尔阿泰兹一起赶到。王妃没有像其他庸俗的人一样一个劲地恭维这位大作家，她没有说半句恭维话，而是优雅大度地表现出对他的友好和敬重，这已是她做出的最大程度的让步。她对法国国王和亲王们大概也是持这样的态度。她似乎很高兴见到这位大人物，也为追求过他而快乐。像王妃这样有品位的女人之所以与众不同，在于她们聆听的方式，以及谦卑的亲切神态，这样才能显示出礼貌的态度，正如美德要体现在行动上。当这位名人说话的时候，她那种专心聆听的神态比那最动听的恭维话还要使人陶醉一千倍。侯爵夫人以一种既不夸张又恰如其分的方式介绍两人认识。
At dinner d'Arthez was placed beside the princess, who, far from imitating the eccentricities of diet which many affected women display, ate her dinner with a very good appetite, making it a point of honor to seem a natural woman, without strange ways or fancies. Between two courses she took advantage of the conversation becoming general to say to d'Arthez, in a sort of aside:—
晚宴上，德阿泰兹被安排坐在王妃旁边，王妃并没有模仿一般惯作媚态的女人的节食行为，而是吃的津津有味，显得自然纯朴，也没有任何古怪夸张的行为。上完一道菜后，她利用大家谈话的空当，找机会大方地同德阿泰兹交谈：
"The secret of the pleasure I take in finding myself beside you, is the desire I feel to learn something of an unfortunate friend of yours, monsieur. He died for another cause greater than ours; but I was under the greatest obligations to him, although unable to acknowledge or thank him for them. I know that you were one of his best friends. Your mutual friendship, pure and unalterable, is a claim upon me. You will not, I am sure, think it extraordinary, that I have wished to know all you could tell me of a man so dear to you. Though I am attached to the exiled family, and bound, of course, to hold monarchical opinions, I am not among those who think it is impossible to be both republican and noble in heart. Monarchy and the republic are two forms of government which do not stifle noble sentiments."
“先生，坐在您旁边我感到很荣幸，其秘密在于我想要了解一些您那不幸朋友的事。同我们相比，他为了更崇高的事业而献身。虽然我欠他很大的人情，却不能为此向他感恩或表达谢意。我知道你是他最好的朋友之一。你们之间纯洁而牢不可变的友谊使您有亲近我的权利。我想从您那里得知关于这个您十分亲近的人的一切，我相信您不会对此感到惊讶吧。虽然我出身流浪家族，并且持有保王派政见，但是我并不属于那类认为共和党人就不可能心地高贵的人。专制与共和政体只是政府组织的两种形式，都不能镇压崇高的意念。”
"Michel Chrestien was an angel, madame," replied Daniel, in a voice of emotion. "I don't know among the heroes of antiquity a greater than he. Be careful not to think him one of those narrow-minded republicans who would like to restore the Convention and the amenities of the Committee of Public Safety. No, Michel dreamed of the Swiss federation applied to all Europe. Let us own, between ourselves, that AFTER the glorious government of one man only, which, as I think, is particularly suited to our nation, Michel's system would lead to the suppression of war in this old world, and its reconstruction on bases other than those of conquest, which formerly feudalized it. From this point of view the republicans came nearest to his idea. That is why he lent them his arm in July, and was killed at Saint-Merri. Though completely apart in opinion, he and I were closely bound together as friends.”
“夫人，米歇尔·克雷斯蒂安是个天使，”达尼埃尔动情地回答，“古代的英雄没人能比得上他的。您可不要把他当作那些一心想要恢复国会和公安委员会设施的心胸狭隘的共和党人。要是那样像就错了，米歇尔希望在整个欧洲实行瑞士的联邦制。我们不妨承认，在我们中间备受推崇的是个人专制体制，我认为这种体制特别适合我们的国家，而米歇尔主张在旧大陆上消灭战争，废除旧的兼并战争所造成的封建割据，建立新的社会体制。从这一点而言，共和党人和他的观点最为接近。这也是他参加七月革命并在圣梅丽修道院被害的原因。虽然政见完全不同，但我们始终紧密地团结在一起。”
"That is noble praise for both natures," said Madame de Cadignan, timidly.
“这番话是对你们两种性格的最好的称赞。”德卡迪央王妃谨慎地说。
"During the last four years of his life," continued Daniel, "he made to me alone a confidence of his love for you, and this confidence knitted closer than ever the already strong ties of brotherly affection. He alone, madame, can have loved you as you ought to be loved. Many a time I have been pelted with rain as we accompanied your carriage at the pace of the horses, to keep at a parallel distance, and see you—admire you.”
“在他生命的最后四年中，”达尼埃尔接着说，“他只对我倾吐了对您的爱情。这种推心置腹的交谈使我们曾经亲密的兄弟之情更加深厚。夫人，唯有他对您的爱才是您应当享有的爱情。很多次，我们冒着瓢泼大雨追赶您的马车，和您的马赛跑，为的是和您的马车保持同步，以便能够看到您，欣赏您的容颜。”
"Ah! monsieur," said the princess, "how can I repay such feelings!"
“啊！先生，我怎样才能偿还这些感情呢？”王妃说。
"Why is Michel not here!" exclaimed Daniel, in melancholy accents.
“要是米歇尔现在在这里该多好呀！”达尼埃尔伤感地叹息道。
"Perhaps he would not have loved me long," said the princess, shaking her head sadly. "Republicans are more absolute in their ideas than we absolutists, whose fault is indulgence. No doubt he imagined me perfect, and society would have cruelly undeceived him. We are pursued, we women, by as many calumnies as you authors are compelled to endure in your literary life; but we, alas! cannot defend ourselves either by our works or by our fame. The world will not believe us to be what we are, but what it thinks us to be. It would soon have hidden from his eyes the real but unknown woman that is in me, behind the false portrait of the imaginary woman which the world considers true. He would have come to think me unworthy of the noble feelings he had for me, and incapable of comprehending him."
“也许他不应该对我如此痴迷。”王妃摇摇头，伤心地说，“共和党人的思想比我们专制派的思想更严酷，我们的失误在于太过于放纵自己。他无疑把我想象得太完美了，社会迟早会令他发现这一点的。我们女人在生活中所遭受的诽谤恐怕并不亚于你们在创作生涯中所经受的非议；不同的是，哎！我们既不能用自己的作品来自卫，也不能用声誉来保护自己。世人不会相信我们的本真面目，只会相信别人虚构后的假象。不久真相便会被这种假象所蒙蔽，人们会认为那个虚构的女人就是不为人知的现实中的我，这只是世人幻想中的我的虚假画像。那样的话，他也许就会认为我是不值得他为我付出高贵的感情的，而我也不可能了解他。”
Here the princess shook her head, swaying the beautiful blond curls, full of heather, with a touching gesture. This plaintive expression of grievous doubts and hidden sorrows is indescribable. Daniel understood them all; and he looked at the princess with keen emotion.
说到这里，王妃动情地摇了摇头，她那漂亮的金色卷发和头上的石南花都随之晃动起来，显得楚楚动人。她那种痛苦的表情所包含的复杂疑虑和内心隐藏的伤痛是难以言表的。达尼埃尔明白这一切；他用关切的眼神看着王妃。
"And yet, the night on which I last saw him, after the revolution of July, I was on the point of giving way to the desire I felt to take his hand and press it before all the world, under the peristyle of the opera-house. But the thought came to me that such a proof of gratitude might be misinterpreted; like so many other little things done from noble motives which are called to-day the follies of Madame de Maufrigneuse—things which I can never explain, for none but my son and God have understood me.”
“然而，七月革命过后的一天晚上，我在歌剧院的走廊里又见到他，我差点控制不住自己，想要过去拉住他的手，当着众人的面握住他的手。但是我又想到这样的感激方式或许会引起旁人的误解，就像我过去所做的许多高尚行为，德摩弗里纽斯公爵夫人至今还认为是疯狂的举动。这些事我无法解释清楚，除了我的儿子和上帝无人能够理解我。
These words, breathed into the ear of the listener, in tones inaudible to the other guests, and with accents worthy of the cleverest actress, were calculated to reach the heart; and they did reach that of d'Arthez. There was no question of himself in the matter; this woman was seeking to rehabilitate herself in favor of the dead. She had been calumniated; and she evidently wanted to know if anything had tarnished her in the eyes of him who had loved her; had he died with all his illusions?
她在德阿泰兹的耳边说这些话，以免别的客人听见，她用的是最高明的演员所用的声调，定能打动人的心。而这些话确实让德阿泰兹为之动容。她并不是在讨好这位作家，而是想要借助对死者的悼念来恢复自己的名誉。她可能被诽谤过。显然她想知道自己在这个死去的爱慕者眼中是否始终光鲜照人，他是否死去的时候还对她抱有幻想？
"Michel," replied d'Arthez, "was one of those men who love absolutely, and who, if they choose ill, can suffer without renouncing the woman they have once elected."
“米歇尔是个对爱情绝对专一的人，即使自己选错了对象，他也甘心忍受痛苦，也不会放弃他所选择的爱人。”德阿泰兹回答。
"Was I loved thus?" she said, with an air of exalted beatitude.
“他就是这样爱我的吗？”王妃带着一种无比幸福的狂喜问道。
"Yes, madame."
“是的，夫人。”
"I made his happiness?"
“我使他幸福吗？”
"For four years."
“整整四年。”
"A woman never hears of such a thing without a sentiment of proud satisfaction," she said, turning her sweet and noble face to d'Arthez with a movement full of modest confusion.
“一个女人听到这样的事情，会感到无比骄傲和满足的。”她把甜美高贵的脸转向德阿泰兹，满脸羞愧地说。
One of the most skilful manoeuvres of these actresses is to veil their manner when words are too expressive, and speak with their eyes when language is restrained. These clever discords, slipped into the music of their love, be it false or true, produce irresistible attractions.
这类女演员的最高明的手法之一就是即使话说得再过火，她们也能够掩饰自己的态度；当语言不足以达情时，眼睛也可以传达意思。这些巧妙的、不和谐的曲调同她们的爱情乐曲交织在一起，不管是真是假，都会产生不可抗拒的诱惑。
"Is it not," she said, lowering her voice and her eyes, after feeling well assured they had produced her effect,—"is it not fulfilling one's destiny to have rendered a great man happy?”
“不是吗？”她再次压低声音，垂下眼睛，确认自己的言语起到了她想要的效果后，继续说：“能给一个伟大的人物带来幸福，这难道不也是实现了自己的人生价值吗？”
"Did he not write that to you?"
“他没有给您写过信吗？”
"Yes; but I wanted to be sure, quite sure; for, believe me, monsieur, in putting me so high he was not mistaken."
“写过，但我还是想了解得更清楚一点。先生，请相信我，他这么高看我，会不会是自己弄错了。”
Women know how to give a peculiar sacredness to their words; they communicate something vibrant to them, which extends the meaning of their ideas, and gives them depth; though later their fascinated listener may not remember precisely what they said, their end has been completely attained,—which is the object of all eloquence. The princess might at that moment have been wearing the diadem of France, and her brow could not have seemed more imposing than it was beneath that crown of golden hair, braided like a coronet, and adorned with heather. She was simple and calm; nothing betrayed a sense of any necessity to appear so, nor any desire to seem grand or loving. D'Arthez, the solitary toiler, to whom the ways of the world were unknown, whom study had wrapped in its protecting veils, was the dupe of her tones and words. He was under the spell of those exquisite manners; he admired that perfect beauty, ripened by misfortune, placid in retirement; he adored the union of so rare a mind and so noble a soul; and he longed to become, himself, the heir of Michel Chrestien.
女人往往懂得如何将自己的话赋予特殊的神圣感，她们使话语充满活力，这会使她们的思想意义扩大加深。假如她们的听众为之着迷，可能日后记不清她们说的是什么，那么她们的目的就达到了——这是所有雄辩者的最终目标。今天王妃那金色的头发被盘成宝塔状，其间镶嵌着美丽的石南花，就像戴了一顶漂亮的王冠，即使戴上真正的法国王冠，她也没有今天这样引人注目。她是那样纯朴、安静；她的这种纯净没有任何矫揉造作的迹象，也看不出她任何故作可爱和高雅的意图。德阿泰兹是个脑力劳动者，独处的生活使他对社会的处事方式一无所知，加之研究性的工作又给他裹上了一层保护伞，他当然对这样的语调和言辞信以为真。他完全被这种优美的举止所吸引，他爱慕这位经历不幸、平静度日的十全十美的美人；他崇拜这个集卓越智慧和崇高灵魂于一身的女人。他此刻也希望像米歇尔·克雷斯蒂恩那样爱这个女人。
The beginning of this passion was, as in the case of almost all deep thinkers, an idea. Looking at the princess, studying the shape of her head, the arrangement of those sweet features, her figure, her hand, so finely modelled, closer than when he accompanied his friend in their wild rush through the streets, he was struck by the surprising phenomenon of the moral second-sight which a man exalted by love invariably finds within him. With what lucidity had Michel Chrestien read into that soul, that heart, illumined by the fires of love! Thus the princess acquired, in d'Arthez's eyes, another charm; a halo of poesy surrounded her.
这种热情开始出现的时候，像在几乎所有深刻的思想家身上那样，只是一个概念。这会儿他注视着王妃，研究她头部的形状，她那非常柔和的面部轮廓，她的身材以及她那细嫩的双手，这是他和朋友当初在街道上疯狂追逐王妃的马车时无法观察到的。他发现：一个男人内心涌动着爱情时，会出现精神上的第二视觉，这种奇怪的现象此刻就发生在他的身上。爱情的烈火曾经照亮了米歇尔·克雷斯蒂安的眼睛，使他能够清晰地透视这颗心，这样的灵魂！因此，在德阿泰兹看来，王妃是那么有魅力，她的头上环绕着一种诗意的光环。
As the dinner proceeded, Daniel called to mind the various confidences of his friend, his despair, his hopes, the noble poems of a true sentiment sung to his ear alone, in honor of this woman. It is rare that a man passes without remorse from the position of confidant to that of rival, and d'Arthez was free to do so without dishonor. He had suddenly, in a moment, perceived the enormous differences existing between a well-bred woman, that flower of the great world, and common women, though of the latter he did not know beyond one specimen. He was thus captured on the most accessible and sensitive sides of his soul and of his genius. Impelled by his simplicity, and by the impetuosity of his ideas, to lay immediate claim to this woman, he found himself restrained by society, also by the barrier which the manners and, let us say the word, the majesty of the princess placed between them. The conversation, which remained upon the topic of Michel Chrestien until the dessert, was an excellent pretext for both to speak in a low voice: love, sympathy, comprehension! she could pose as a maligned and misunderstood woman; he could slip his feet into the shoes of the dead republican. Perhaps his candid mind detected itself in regretting his dead friend less. The princess, at the moment when the dessert appeared upon the table, and the guests were separated by a brilliant hedge of fruits and sweetmeats, thought best to put an end to this flow of confidences by a charming little speech, in which she delicately expressed the idea that Daniel and Michel were twin souls.
晚饭时，达尼埃尔回想起他的共和党朋友向他吐露心声时的绝望心情，以及对爱情充满希望时的种种自信，还有唯独向他朗诵赞美这个女人的感人肺腑的优秀诗篇。一个人从知己的位置变为情敌而不心存懊悔，这种情况是很少见的。而德阿泰兹这样做却并未使自己名誉扫地。他在一瞬间突然发现，跻身上流社会的那些如花的贵妇和出身一般的妇女之间存在着巨大差异，尽管他对后者的了解还仅限于一个样品。因此他终于从他身上最易受影响的地方以及灵魂和天分最敏感之处理解了这一点。他一方面受到自己天真和欲望的驱使，急切想要占有这个女人，另一方面又发现自己受到贵族社会的压制，以及王妃仪态表现出来的威仪所形成的障碍也使他感到压抑。直到上甜点的时候，他们还在谈论米歇尔·克列斯蒂安的问题，这样他们就有合适的理由低声耳语：爱情、同情、悟性等等！对王妃来说，她可以装作一个被误解、被中伤的女人，而对德阿泰兹来讲，他则可以取代死去的共和党人的位置。也许他的率真使他发现自己对死去的朋友少了些许思念。精致的点心在桌上闪闪发光，这些水果和甜食排列得像光彩夺目的篱笆，将宾客们分开；此刻，王妃觉得最好用优雅而简短的谈话结束这场没有间断的密谈。她巧妙地表达了这样一个思想：达尼埃尔和米歇尔是一对精神上的孪生兄弟。
After this d'Arthez threw himself into the general conversation with the gayety of a child, and a self-conceited air that was worthy of a schoolboy. When they left the dining-room, the princess took d'Arthez's arm, in the simplest manner, to return to Madame d'Espard's little salon. As they crossed the grand salon she walked slowly, and when sufficiently separated from the marquise, who was on Blondet's arm, she stopped.
之后，德阿泰兹便融入了大伙泛泛的谈话之中，既像个小孩一样天真快乐，又像个中学生一样自我崇拜。他们离开客厅的时候，王妃以最纯朴的方式挽住德阿泰兹的胳膊，回到侯爵夫人的小客厅里去。穿过大厅时，王妃放慢了脚步，当她看到侯爵夫人挽着布隆代的胳膊，和他们之间有一段距离时，便让德阿泰兹停了下来。
"I do not wish to be inaccessible to the friend of that poor man," she said to d'Arthez; "and though I have made it a rule to receive no visitors, you will always be welcome in my house. Do not think this a favor. A favor is only for strangers, and to my mind you and I seem old friends; I see in you the brother of Michel."
“我不希望拒可怜的共和党人的朋友于千里之外，”她对德阿泰兹说，“虽然我给自己制定了规则——不再接待任何来访者。但是你在我这里永远都是受欢迎的。别觉得这是一种恩惠。恩惠只给予陌生人，而我觉得我们已经是老朋友了。我把你当作米歇尔的兄弟来看待。”
D'Arthez could only press her arm, unable to make other reply.
德阿泰兹只是紧紧挽住王妃的胳膊，没有作答。
After coffee was served, Diane de Cadignan wrapped herself, with coquettish motions, in a large shawl, and rose. Blondet and Rastignac were too much men of the world, and too polite to make the least remonstrance, or try to detain her; but Madame d'Espard compelled her friend to sit down again, whispering in her ear:—
用完咖啡后，迪亚娜·德卡迪央妩媚地披上她的大披风后站了起来。布隆代和拉斯蒂涅作为极为高明的政治家，对事件的处理也是运筹帷幄，所以不会大呼小叫地挽留王妃。但是德帕夫人则是拉着她的手让她坐下，并凑到她的耳边说：
"Wait till the servants have had their dinner; the carriage is not ready yet."
“再坐会儿吧，让仆人们吃过饭送你，这会儿马车还没备好呢。”
So saying, the marquise made a sign to the footman, who was taking away the coffee-tray. Madame de Montcornet perceived that the princess and Madame d'Espard had a word to say to each other, and she drew around her d'Arthez, Rastignac, and Blondet, amusing them with one of those clever paradoxical attacks which Parisian women understand so thoroughly.
正说着，侯爵夫人向收拾咖啡托盘的仆人做了个手势。德蒙科尔内夫人猜想王妃和德帕夫人还有话要说，就把德阿泰兹、拉斯蒂涅和布隆代拉到她这里，并用巴黎女人最擅长的荒诞打趣儿和他们逗乐。
"Well," said the marquise to Diane, "what do you think of him?"
“喂，你觉得他怎么样？”侯爵夫人问迪亚娜。
"He is an adorable child, just out of swaddling-clothes! This time, like all other times, it will only be a triumph without a struggle.”
“他简直是一个可爱的孩子，像是刚从襁褓中出来！这回和过去一样，不费吹灰之力就胜利了。”
"Well, it is disappointing," said Madame d'Espard. "But we might evade it."
“哎，这也太没劲儿了。”德帕夫人说，“可我们还有办法。”
"How?"
“怎么做？”
"Let me be your rival."
“让我做你的情敌。”
"Just as you please," replied the princess. "I've decided on my course. Genius is a condition of the brain; I don't know what the heart gets out of it; we'll talk about that later.”
“随你便吧。”王妃回答，“我已经下定主意了。天才是思想的一种表现；我不知道灵魂在那里占据什么样的位置。我们以后再谈这个问题。”
Hearing the last few words, which were wholly incomprehensible to her, Madame d'Espard returned to the general conversation, showing neither offence at that indifferent "As you please," nor curiosity as to the outcome of the interview. The princess stayed an hour longer, seated on the sofa near the fire, in the careless, nonchalant attitude of Guerin's Dido, listening with the attention of an absorbed mind, and looking at Daniel now and then, without disguising her admiration, which never went, however, beyond due limits. She slipped away when the carriage was announced, with a pressure of the hand to the marquise, and an inclination of the head to Madame de Montcornet.
听了王妃最后这几句高深莫测的话之后，德帕夫人就和大家聊起天来，既没有因‘随你的便’这样冷漠的话感到受到冒犯，也对这次会面的结果不感兴趣。王妃在火炉旁的沙发上坐了大约一个钟头，一副懒洋洋的样子，那姿势就像介朗笔下的迪东，同时又聚精会神地听着别人的谈话，还时不时地带着既不加掩饰又不过分的仰慕神情看看达尼埃尔，车子备好了，她便和侯爵夫人握手告别，对蒙科尔内夫人点了点头便悄然离去。
The evening concluded without any allusion to the princess. The other guests profited by the sort of exaltation which d'Arthez had reached, for he put forth the treasures of his mind. In Blondet and Rastignac he certainly had two acolytes of the first quality to bring forth the delicacy of his wit and the breadth of his intellect. As for the two women, they had long been counted among the cleverest in society. This evening was like a halt in the oasis of a desert,—a rare enjoyment, and well appreciated by these four persons, habitually victimized to the endless caution entailed by the world of salons and politics. There are beings who have the privilege of passing among men like beneficent stars, whose light illumines the mind, while its rays send a glow to the heart. D'Arthez was one of those beings. A writer who rises to his level, accustoms himself to free thought, and forgets that in society all things cannot be said; it is impossible for such a man to observe the restraint of persons who live in the world perpetually; but as his eccentricities of thought bore the mark of originality, no one felt inclined to complain. This zest, this piquancy, rare in mere talent, this youthfulness and simplicity of soul which made d'Arthez so nobly original, gave a delightful charm to this evening. He left the house with Rastignac, who, as they drove home, asked him how he liked the princess.
晚会并未因王妃的离去而终止。大伙都来德阿泰兹这儿凑热闹，此时他神态激昂，想要大大施展自己的才华。布隆代和拉斯蒂涅两人无论在聪明和才智上，显然都是无人能比的。至于这两个女人，也早已在上流社会称得上最聪颖的人物。今晚的宴会好比是沙漠绿洲旅行中所做的简短的休憩。这是一种少有的幸福，特别受到这些处于上流社会沙龙和政界中，要时刻警觉彼此之间尔虞我诈的这些人物的好评。有些人有得天独厚的优势，他们就像造福人类的星星，其光辉既能启发人的智慧，又能温暖人的心房。德阿泰兹就属于这样的人物。一个作家到了这样的高位，就会习惯于自由发挥，就会忘了哪些事情在社会上是不该说的。他不可能像那些经常搞社会活动的人那样说话有所顾忌，但是他的怪癖思想给人新鲜感，所以人们并不对其加以批判。由于他这种少见的幽默风趣和他那充满青春朝气而又简单纯朴的心灵，使他成为今晚的奇特人物，给这个晚会增添了无尽的乐趣。他和拉斯蒂涅一起离开，男爵在送他回家的路上问他觉得王妃怎么样。
"Michel did well to love her," replied d'Arthez; "she is, indeed, an extraordinary woman."
“米歇尔爱她是有道理的。”德阿泰兹回答，“她的确是个不一般的女人。”
"Very extraordinary," replied Rastignac, dryly. "By the tone of your voice I should judge you were in love with her already. You will be in her house within three days; and I am too old a denizen of Paris not to know what will be the upshot of that. Well, my dear Daniel, I do entreat you not to allow yourself to be drawn into any confusion of interests, so to speak. Love the princess if you feel any love for her in your heart, but keep an eye on your fortune. She has never taken or asked a penny from any man on earth, she is far too much of a d'Uxelles and a Cadignan for that; but, to my knowledge, she has not only spent her own fortune, which was very considerable, but she has made others waste millions. How? why? by what means? No one knows; she doesn't know herself. I myself saw her swallow up, some thirteen years ago, the entire fortune of a charming young fellow, and that of an old notary, in twenty months.”
“十分超凡。”拉斯蒂涅冷淡地说，“听你的口气，你已经爱上她了吧。不出三天你将会到她家里去。我对巴黎社会的这类事情如指掌了，知道你们之间将会发生些什么。那么，亲爱的达尼埃尔，我恳求你不要将金钱和爱情混为一谈。这么说吧，如果你觉得你对她有了爱慕之情，尽管去爱，可是要留心你的财产。她从没拿过也没要过任何男人一分钱，她那于克赛尔和卡迪央的家族太显赫了，不容许她做那样的事；但是据我所知，她除了花掉自己的一笔数目庞大的财产外，还挥霍掉好几百万其他男人的钱财。怎么花的？为什么花这么多钱？都花到哪些地方啦？谁都不晓得，连她自己都不知道。十三年前，我亲眼见她二十个月之内就挥霍完了一个可爱的年轻小伙子和一个老公证人的财产。”
"Thirteen years ago!" exclaimed d'Arthez,—"why, how old is she now?"
“十三年前！她到底多大年纪了？”德阿泰兹惊叹道。
"Didn't you see, at dinner," replied Rastignac, laughing, "her son, the Duc de Maufrigneuse. That young man is nineteen years old; nineteen and seventeen make—”
“晚宴上你没看到她的儿子吗？德摩弗里纽斯公爵。那个十九岁的青年；那么十九岁加上十七岁是多少……
"Thirty-six!" cried the amazed author. "I gave her twenty."
“三十六岁！”这位作家惊叫道，“我以为她才二十岁。”
"She'll accept them," said Rastignac; "but don't be uneasy, she will always be twenty to you. You are about to enter the most fantastic of worlds. Good-night, here you are at home," said the baron, as they entered the rue de Bellefond, where d'Arthez lived in a pretty little house of his own. "We shall meet at Mademoiselle des Touches's in the course of the week.”
“她会接受的，你不必担心，对你来说，她永远都是二十岁。”拉斯蒂涅对他说。你将要步入一个最浪漫的世界。晚安，你到家了。”当马车驶入拜耳丰街德阿泰兹那漂亮的房子时男爵说，“这星期我们会在德图希小姐家见。”
CHAPTER III THE PRINCESS GOES TO WORK