1. Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to bring to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death. It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed
知道馬拉德太太患有心臟病，向她傳達她丈夫的死訊就要格外小心，而且要盡可能采取溫和的方式。她妹妹約瑟芬吞吞吐吐地把這個消息告訴了她。當時，她丈夫的朋友理查茲也在她身邊。正是他從報社得到了這次災難性的鐵路事故的消息——布倫特里·馬拉德的名字在殉難者名單的第一個。
2. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself, she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her. There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.
她突然倒在她妹妹的懷里，放聲大哭。當這場悲傷的風暴過后，她獨自回到了自己的房間，不讓任何人跟隨她。她癱坐在扶手椅上，身體的疲勞已占據了她整個身體，似乎就要侵入她的靈魂——她已不堪重負。
3. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.
她可以看到房前的露天廣場上的樹梢綴滿新了芽，在微微抖動著。空氣中彌漫著綿綿細雨。樓下的街道上，一個小販正叫賣著他的貨物。遠處不知何人的歌聲，隱隱約約地傳入她的耳朵。數不清的麻雀在屋檐下嘰嘰喳喳地叫著。
4. She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams. She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines usually bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.
她坐在椅子上，頭猛地向后靠向椅墊。她坐在那里，幾乎一動不動，只是嗚咽聲從她的喉嚨經過時，讓她的身體發出抖動。就如同一個在哭泣中入睡的孩子，在睡夢中仍會發出陣陣啜泣。她很年輕，面容白皙、冷靜，面部輪廓顯得鎮靜甚至有那么一絲絲堅強。但現在的她，目光呆滯，凝視著遠方藍色天際的一隅。那并不是轉眼間的沉思，更像是深思熟慮的短暫停歇。
5. There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the colour that filled the air. Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. A little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it, went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.
她突然想到了什么，這正是她在恐慌中所等待的。是什么呢？這個想法從遙遠的天際悄悄溜出，與空氣中充滿的各種聲響、氣味和色彩一同來到她的身邊，于是被她察覺到了。此時，她的內心已躁動不安。她開始意識到這個想法會占據她的全部身心，于是她開始用自己的意志力擊退它——只不過，她的意志力與她白嫩纖細的雙手一樣弱不禁風。她兩片嘴唇微微張開，一陣低語從唇縫中脫口而出。她一遍又一遍地低聲說著：“自由了，自由了，終于自由了！”她目光中的茫然、空洞，以及隨之而來的恐慌消失了。雙眼釋放出敏銳、愉悅的光芒。她的脈搏快速地跳動著，奔騰的血液令她身體的每一個部位都變得溫暖和放松。
6. She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked without love upon her, fixed and grey and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.
她并沒讓自己的思緒停下來，去問一下自己是否已經被一種巨大的喜悅所掌控。她沒有這么做，是因為她非常清楚那并不重要。她知道當她看到那雙親切、溫柔的雙手在棺木中交叉緊握，以及那張曾經無時無刻不流露出對她的愛慕，如今卻蒼白、僵硬、面無血色的面孔時，她會再次哭泣。但是，她已經看到了在那痛苦時刻過后，等待她的是一段完全屬于她自己的漫長的未來歲月。于是，她張開了一雙臂膀，準備迎接這新生活的到來。

7. There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.
即將到來的歲月里，她不必再為別人活著；她將只為自己而活。不再有強大的意志讓她屈服并盲目地堅持這樣的理念——無論男人還是女人都有權利將自己的私人意愿強加給自己的另一半。這短暫的頓悟令她發現，無論善意或殘酷的意圖都讓她覺得這種想法簡直與犯罪沒什么兩樣。
8. And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! "Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.
然而，她的確愛過他——雖然只是偶爾。大多數時候，她并不愛他。這并不重要了！愛情，這個謎一般的東西，在這種重新找回自我的感覺面前，又有什么意義呢？——她突然意識到這種找回自我的感覺才是她內心中最強烈的沖動。“自由！身體和靈魂的自由！”她一直在低語著。
9. Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the key hole, asking her to let her in. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door." "Go away. I am not making myself ill", she said. No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long. She finally arose at length and opened the door for her sister. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself like a goddess of Victory. Together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.
約瑟芬跪在關著的門外，嘴唇貼著鑰匙孔，央求著讓她進去。“露易絲，打開門吧！我求求你了，打開門吧。這樣下去你會病倒的！露易絲，你在做什么？看在上帝的份上，打開門吧！”“走開，我一點兒事沒有，”她說。她的確沒事。她現在正看著窗外，暢想著自己未來的美好生活，甚至有些飄飄欲仙的感覺——春天、夏天，以后的不管什么樣的日子里，她都會為自己而活……她快速地做了個祈禱，希望自己的生命能夠更長一些。就在昨天，她想到自己還得活很多年時，她還會感到不寒而栗。她終于從扶手椅上起來，為她妹妹打開了房門。她的眼中釋放出狂熱且勝利的光芒。此時此刻，她的舉手投足就像一位勝利女神。姐妹倆一起走下樓梯。理查茲正在樓下等著她們。
10. Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills.
正在這時，有人用鑰匙打開了前門。走進的人正是布倫特里·馬拉德。他看上去有點兒風塵仆仆，手里拿著他的沉甸甸的手提包和雨傘。事故發生時，他距離事故現場很遠，甚至不知道有這么一場事故。他站在那里，驚訝地看著約瑟芬嚎啕大哭。理查茲快速地遮住了他的視線，不讓他看到她妻子的慘相。醫生趕來后，告訴他們，她死于高興過度導致的心臟病。