評(píng)論
打印
For the first time he perceived how elementary his own principles had always been. He passed for a young man who had not been afraid of risks, and he knew that his secret love-affair with poor silly Mrs. Thorley Rushworth had not been too secret to invest him with a becoming air of adventure. But Mrs. Rushworth was "that kind of woman"; foolish, vain, clandestine by nature, and far more attracted by the secrecy and peril of the affair than by such charms and qualities as he possessed. When the fact dawned on him it nearly broke his heart, but now it seemed the redeeming feature of the case. The affair, in short, had been of the kind that most of the young men of his age had been through, and emerged from with calm consciences and an undisturbed belief in the abysmal distinction between the women one loved and respected and those one enjoyed--and pitied. In this view they were sedulously abetted by their mothers, aunts and other elderly female relatives, who all shared Mrs. Archer's belief that when "such things happened" it was undoubtedly foolish of the man, but somehow always criminal of the woman. All the elderly ladies whom Archer knew regarded any woman who loved imprudently as necessarily unscrupulous and designing, and mere simple- minded man as powerless in her clutches. The only thing to do was to persuade him, as early as possible, to marry a nice girl, and then trust to her to look after him.
他第一次認(rèn)識(shí)到他恪守的那些原則是多么初級(jí)。他被認(rèn)為是個(gè)不怕冒險(xiǎn)的年輕人，他知道他與傻乎乎的托雷·拉什沃斯太太的桃色秘密還不夠秘密，無(wú)法給他蒙上一層名副其實(shí)的冒險(xiǎn)色彩。然而拉什沃斯太太屬于“那種女人”：愚蠢、虛榮、生性喜歡偷偷摸摸，事情的秘密性與冒險(xiǎn)性對(duì)她的吸引力遠(yuǎn)大于他的魅力與品質(zhì)。當(dāng)他明白真相之后，難受得差點(diǎn)兒心碎，不過(guò)現(xiàn)在看來(lái)卻起到了補(bǔ)償作用?？傊?，那段恩怨屬于跟他同齡的多數(shù)年輕人都經(jīng)歷過(guò)的那一種，它的發(fā)生于良心是平靜的，且絲毫不會(huì)動(dòng)搖這樣一種信念：一個(gè)人尊重、愛(ài)戀的女人與他欣賞——并憐憫的女人是有天淵之別的。按照這種觀點(diǎn)，年輕人都受到他們的母親、姑姨及其他女長(zhǎng)輩百般的慫恿和支持，她們都與阿切爾太太持同樣的看法：“發(fā)生這種事”，對(duì)于男人無(wú)疑是愚蠢的，而對(duì)于女人——不知何故——卻是罪惡的。阿切爾太太認(rèn)識(shí)的所有上年紀(jì)的夫人們都認(rèn)為，任何輕率與人相愛(ài)的女人都必然是寡廉鮮恥、工于心計(jì)的，而心地單純的男人在其控制下則是無(wú)能為力的。惟一的辦法是盡早說(shuō)服他娶一位好姑娘，然后委托她去照管他。
In the complicated old European communities, Archer began to guess, love-problems might be less simple and less easily classified. Rich and idle and ornamental societies must produce many more such situations; and there might even be one in which a woman naturally sensitive and aloof would yet, from the force of circumstances, from sheer defencelessness and loneliness, be drawn into a tie inexcusable by conventional standards.
阿切爾開(kāi)始想，在復(fù)雜的老式歐洲社會(huì)里，愛(ài)情問(wèn)題恐怕不這么簡(jiǎn)單，不這么容易分門歸類。富足、悠閑、喜歡招搖的上流社會(huì)必然會(huì)發(fā)生許許多多這樣的私情，甚至?xí)羞@種可能：一位生性敏感的孤單女子，由于環(huán)境勢(shì)力所逼、由于全然孤立無(wú)助，會(huì)被牽涉進(jìn)為傳統(tǒng)規(guī)范不能饒恕的感情糾紛之中。
On reaching home he wrote a line to the Countess Olenska, asking at what hour of the next day she could receive him, and despatched it by a messenger-boy, who returned presently with a word to the effect that she was going to Skuytercliff the next morning to stay over Sunday with the van der Luydens, but that he would find her alone that evening after dinner. The note was written on a rather untidy half-sheet, without date or address, but her hand was firm and free. He was amused at the idea of her week-ending in the stately solitude of Skuytercliff, but immediately afterward felt that there, of all places, she would most feel the chill of minds rigorously averted from the "unpleasant."
一回到家，他便給奧蘭斯卡伯爵夫人寫(xiě)了幾句話，問(wèn)她第二天什么時(shí)間可以接見(jiàn)他。他打發(fā)信差送去，不久，便帶話回來(lái)，說(shuō)她翌晨要與范德盧頓夫婦去斯庫(kù)特克利夫過(guò)星期天，不過(guò)晚飯以后她將一個(gè)人呆在家里。回函寫(xiě)在很不整潔的半頁(yè)紙上，沒(méi)有日期和地址，但她的書(shū)寫(xiě)流暢而道勁。他對(duì)她到豪華幽閉的斯庫(kù)特克利夫度周末的主意感到高興，但稍后他立即意識(shí)到，惟其在那個(gè)地方，她才會(huì)最深切地感受到堅(jiān)決規(guī)避“不愉快”的那種思想的冷漠。
He was at Mr. Letterblair's punctually at seven, glad of the pretext for excusing himself soon after dinner. He had formed his own opinion from the papers entrusted to him, and did not especially want to go into the matter with his senior partner. Mr. Letterblair was a widower, and they dined alone, copiously and slowly, in a dark shabby room hung with yellowing prints of "The Death of Chatham" and "The Coronation of Napoleon." On the sideboard, between fluted Sheraton knife-cases, stood a decanter of Haut Brion, and another of the old Lanning port (the gift of a client), which the wastrel Tom Lanning had sold off a year or two before his mysterious and discreditable death in San Francisco--an incident less publicly humiliating to the family than the sale of the cellar.
7點(diǎn)鐘，他準(zhǔn)時(shí)到達(dá)萊特布賴先生的家，心中為飯后立即脫身的借口暗自高興。他已從交給他的那些文件中形成了自己的意見(jiàn)，并不太想跟他的上司深入探討。萊特布賴先生是個(gè)鰥夫，只有他們兩人用餐。菜肴十分豐盛，而上菜卻慢慢騰騰。陰暗寒愴的餐廳里掛著兩張發(fā)黃的版畫(huà)《查塔姆之死》與《拿破侖的加冕禮》。餐具柜上面，帶凹槽的餐刀匣子中間，擺著一瓶豪特·布里翁的圓酒瓶，還有一瓶陳年拉寧紅葡萄酒（一位委托人的禮品），那是湯姆·拉寧那個(gè)飯桶神秘可恥地死于舊金山前一兩年打折傾銷的——他的死亡還不及地下酒窖的拍賣給家庭帶來(lái)的恥辱大。
After a velvety oyster soup came shad and cucumbers, then a young broiled turkey with corn fritters, followed by a canvas-back with currant jelly and a celery mayonnaise. Mr. Letterblair, who lunched on a sandwich and tea, dined deliberately and deeply, and insisted on his guest's doing the same. Finally, when the closing rites had been accomplished, the cloth was removed, cigars were lit, and Mr. Letterblair, leaning back in his chair and pushing the port westward, said, spreading his back agreeably to the coal fire behind him: "The whole family are against a divorce. And I think rightly."
一道可口的牡蠣湯之后，上了河鯡和黃瓜，然后是一客童子雞與油炸玉米餡餅，接著又有灰背野鴨和醋栗醬和蛋黃汁芹菜。午飯吃三明治、喝茶的萊特布賴先生，晚餐卻吃得從容不迫、專心致志，并堅(jiān)持讓他的客人也照此辦理。終于，收?qǐng)龅亩Y節(jié)完成之后，撤掉桌布，點(diǎn)著雪茄，萊特布賴先生把酒瓶向西面一推，身體在椅子里朝后一靠，無(wú)拘無(wú)束地向身后的煤火舒展開(kāi)后背，然后說(shuō)道：“全家人都反對(duì)離婚，我認(rèn)為這很正確。”
Archer instantly felt himself on the other side of the argument. "But why, sir? If there ever was a case--"
阿切爾即刻覺(jué)得自己站在了爭(zhēng)論的另一方。“可這是因?yàn)槭裁茨?，先生？假如有個(gè)案子——”
