1. Mrs. Baroda was looking forward to a period of unbroken rest with her husband, until he informed her that his friend Gouvernail was coming to their house to stay a week or two. This was a man she had heard much of, but had never seen. He had been her husband's college friend; was now a journalist, and in no sense a social person which was, perhaps, the reason she had never met him. But she had unconsciously formed an image of him in her mind. She pictured him tall, slim, cynical; with eye-glasses, and his hands in his pockets; and she did not like him.
巴羅達太太期待與她的丈夫過上一段不被打擾的休息時間，但她還是被她丈夫告知她丈夫的朋友古韋內(nèi)爾要到她家住上一兩周。她經(jīng)常聽到這個男人的名字，但從未見過真人。他是她丈夫上大學時的朋友，現(xiàn)在是一名記者，但可以肯定不是一個愛交際的人，這也許就是她從未見過他的原因。不過，她不知不覺地已經(jīng)在頭腦中勾勒出了這個人的形象——又瘦又高，有點兒憤世嫉俗，戴著眼鏡，雙手愛插在衣服口袋里——總之不是她喜歡的類型。
2. Gouvernail was slim enough, but he wasn't very tall nor very cynical; neither did he wear eyeglasses nor carry his hands in his pockets. And she rather liked him when he first presented himself. But why she liked him she could not explain to herself when she attempted to do so. She could discover in him none of those attractive brilliant and promising traits which Gaston, her husband, clearly had. On the contrary, he sat down rather mute and made himself feel at home. He made no efforts at all to get her approval or even esteem.
古韋內(nèi)爾的確很瘦，但不是很高，也不是很憤世嫉俗；他沒戴眼鏡，也沒有把雙手放在口袋里。她第一次見到他就覺得很喜歡他。不過，她自己也無法解釋她為什么會喜歡他。她無法從他身上找到任何他丈夫加斯頓所具有的那種非常吸引人的出眾才華和前程似錦的特質(zhì)。相反，他只是沉默寡言地坐在那里，就像在自己家一樣輕松自在。他沒有做任何努力去獲得她的認可甚至尊重。
3. Once settled at the plantation, he liked to sit in the shade, smoking his cigar lazily and listening attentively to Gaston's experience as a sugar planter. "This is what I call living," he would utter with deep satisfaction. He did not care to fish, and displayed no eagerness to go out and kill wild animals when Gaston proposed doing so.
每次來到種植園，他都喜歡坐在陰涼處，懶洋洋地抽著雪茄，專心傾聽著加斯頓講述自己作為甘蔗種植園主的經(jīng)歷。“這才是我所說的生活，”他深感滿意地說道。他對釣魚不感興趣，并且在加斯頓提議出去獵殺野生動物時，也表現(xiàn)得毫無熱情。
4. Gouvernail's personality puzzled Mrs. Baroda, but she liked him. Indeed, he was a lovable fellow. At first, she left her husband and her guest, for the most part, alone together. When she noticed that Gouvernail was not interested in her, she started accompanying him in his idle strolls to the mill and walks along the lake.
古韋內(nèi)爾的性格讓巴羅達太太琢磨不透，不過她還是很喜歡他。的確，他是個可愛的家伙。起初，她在大多數(shù)情況下都會讓她丈夫和她的這位客人單獨呆在一起。但，當她注意到古韋內(nèi)爾對她并不感興趣時 ，她便開始陪著他漫步到磨坊，并沿著湖岸散步。
5. "When is he going—your friend?" she one day asked her husband. "For my part, he tires me frightfully." "Not for a week yet, dear. I can't understand; he gives you no trouble." "No. I would like him if he were more like others." Gaston took his wife's pretty face between his hands and looked tenderly and laughingly into her troubled eyes. "You are full of surprises, ma belle," he said to her. "Even I can never predict how you are going to act under given conditions. Here you are, taking poor Gouvernail seriously and making a commotion over him, the last thing he would desire or expect."
“他什么時候離開，你的那位朋友？”一天她這樣問她的丈夫。“對我來說，我該煩死他了。”“他來了還不到一個星期，親愛的。我不明白你為什么煩他，他又沒有給你帶來什么麻煩。” “確實沒有。不過，如果他更像其他人一些，我應該會更喜歡他。”加斯頓把他妻子漂亮的臉蛋捧在兩手之間，露出溫柔的笑容，同時看著她困惑的雙眸。“你太令我驚喜了，親愛的，”他對她說。 “我甚至永遠無法預測在特定條件下你會作何反應。那就拜托你了，好好對待可憐的古韋內(nèi)爾，讓他的內(nèi)心躁動起來，這應該是他最不希望看到的事情。

6. "Commotion! Nonsense! How can you say such a thing? You know, you said he was clever." "So he is. But the poor fellow is run down by overwork now. That's why I asked him here to take a rest." "You used to say he was a man of ideas," she continued. "I expected him to be interesting, at least. I'm going to the city in the morning to have my spring gowns fitted. Let me know when Mr. Gouvernail is gone; I shall be at my Aunt Octavie's."
“躁動起來！胡說！你怎么能說出這樣的話？你知道的，你說過他是個聰明人。” “他的確是。但這可憐的家伙現(xiàn)在因工作過度而疲憊不堪。這就是我邀請他來咱家休息一段時間的原因。”“你說過他是一個很有見解的人，”她繼續(xù)說，“至少我之前期待他是個有趣的人。明天早上我要去城里試穿我的春裝。告訴我古韋內(nèi)爾先生什么時候離開，他離開之前，我就先住在奧蒂玟姨媽家了。”
7. That night she sat down beneath an oak tree. She had never experienced her thoughts or her intentions in such a confused way. Then, Mrs. Baroda heard footsteps; but could only see the approaching red point of a lighted cigar in the darkness of the night. She knew it was Gouvernail, for her husband did not smoke. She hoped to remain unnoticed, but her white gown revealed her to him. He threw away his cigar and seated himself upon the bench beside her; without a suspicion that she might object to his presence.
那天晚上，她坐在一棵橡樹下。她從來沒料到自己的思緒或意圖會如此混亂。隨后，巴羅達太太聽到了一陣腳步聲，但她只能在夜晚的黑暗中看到點燃的雪茄的紅點正在靠近。她知道這是古韋內(nèi)爾，因為她的丈夫不吸煙。她希望自己別引起他的注意，但她的白色長袍暴露了她。他扔掉雪茄，坐在她旁邊的長凳上。毫無疑問，她并不希望他此時出現(xiàn)。
8. Gouvernail was in no sense a shy man, for he was not a self-conscious one. Sitting there beside Mrs. Baroda, his silence melted. He talked freely and intimately in a low, hesitating tone that was not unpleasant to hear. He talked of the old college days when he and Gaston had been a good deal to each other; of the days of ambitions and large intentions.
古韋內(nèi)爾絕不是一個害羞的人，因為他并不知道什么是難為情。坐在巴羅達太太旁邊的他，沒有了以往的沉默寡言。他說話的方式自由而親密，語調(diào)低沉、語氣猶豫，很是悅耳。他談到了他和加斯頓相處很好的大學時光，還談到了自己內(nèi)心充滿遠大理想與抱負的那些日子。
9. Her mind only vaguely grasped what he was saying. She was not thinking of his words, only drinking in the tones of his voice. She wanted to reach out her hand in the darkness and touch him with the tips of her fingers. She wanted to draw close to him and whisper against his cheek—she did not care what—as she might have done if she had not been a respectable woman. The stronger the impulse grew to bring herself near him, the further, in fact, did she draw away from him. As soon as she could do so, she rose and left him there alone.
她并沒有很清晰地領(lǐng)會到他所說的話。她并沒有思考他在說什么，只是陶醉在他的話音中。她想在黑暗中伸出手，用她的指尖觸摸他。她想靠近他，對著他的臉頰低語——如果她不是一個一直受人尊敬的女人，她就會拋掉一切顧慮。可實際上，促使她靠近他的沖動越強烈，就越會讓她遠離他。到時候，她就會站起身來，把他獨自留在那里。
10. Mrs. Baroda was greatly tempted that night to tell her husband of this folly that had seized her. But she did not yield to the temptation. Besides being a respectable woman she was a very sensible one; and she knew there are some battles in life which a human being must fight alone. When Gaston arose in the morning, she had taken an early morning train to the city already. She did not return till Gouvernail was gone from under her roof. There was some talk of having him back during the summer that followed. That is, Gaston greatly desired it; but this desire lost to his wife's strong opposition.
那天晚上，巴羅達太太非常想把這件讓她念念不忘的荒唐事告訴她的丈夫。但她還是抑制住了這種想法。她除了是一位受人尊敬的女人，還是一個非常明智的女人。她知道人的一生中，許多掙扎需要自己去單獨面對。第二天，加斯頓早上起床時，她已經(jīng)乘坐清晨的火車去城里了。古韋內(nèi)爾離開她家后，她才回來。第二年夏天，她丈夫跟她談?wù)撌遣皇茄埞彭f內(nèi)爾來她家里再住上一段時間。加斯頓非常希望他能來，但因為妻子的反對沒有成行。
11. However, before the year ended, she proposed, wholly from herself, to have Gouvernail visit them again. Her husband was surprised and delighted with the suggestion coming from her. "I am glad, chere amie, to know that you have finally overcome your dislike for him; truly he did not deserve it." "Oh," she told him, laughingly, after pressing a long, tender kiss upon his lips, "I have overcome everything! you will see. This time I shall be very nice to him."
然而，在這一年的年底，她卻主動提出邀請古韋內(nèi)爾再次來家里做客。她的丈夫?qū)λ慕ㄗh感到驚訝和高興。“親愛的，知道你終于克服了對他的厭惡，我很欣慰。這真的不是他應得的。” “哦，”她給了他一個長長的溫柔的吻后，笑著告訴他，“我已經(jīng)克服了一切！你會看到的。這次我會對他很好的。”