The young Princess Kitty Shtcherbatskaya was eighteen. —
年轻的凯蒂·什切尔巴茨卡亚公主，年仅十八岁。 —

It was the first winter that she had been out in the world. —
这是她第一次到外面的世界过冬。 —

Her success in society had been greater than that of either of her elder sisters, and greater even than her mother had anticipated. —
她在社会上的成功超过了她姐姐们，甚至超出了她母亲的预期。 —

To say nothing of the young men who danced at the Moscow balls being almost all in love with Kitty, two serious suitors had already this first winter made their appearance: —
更不用说在莫斯科舞会上跳舞的年轻人几乎都爱上了凯蒂，这个冬天已经有两个认真的追求者出现了：列文和在他离开后不久的弗朗斯基伯爵。 —

Levin, and immediately after his departure, Count Vronsky.
列文在冬天初期的出现，他频繁的访问以及对凯蒂明显的爱，引发了凯蒂的父母第一次就她的未来进行了认真的讨论，并产生了争执。

Levin’s appearance at the beginning of the winter, his frequent visits, and evident love for Kitty, had led to the first serious conversations between Kitty’s parents as to her future, and to disputes between them. —
在列文离开后，弗朗斯基伯爵迅速出现。 —

The prince was on Levin’s side; he said he wished for nothing better for Kitty. The princess for her part, going round the question in the manner peculiar to women, maintained that Kitty was too young, that Levin had done nothing to prove that he had serious intentions, that Kitty felt no great attraction to him, and other side issues; —
王子站在莱文的一边，他说自己对基蒂没有比这更好的愿望。公主则以女性特有的方式绕开问题，声称基蒂太年轻，莱文没有证明他有认真的意图，基蒂对他并没有很大的吸引力，以及其他方面的问题； —

but she did not state the principal point, which was that she looked for a better match for her daughter, and that Levin was not to her liking, and she did not understand him. —
但她没有提到最重要的一点，那就是她正在寻找一个更好的对象给女儿，而莱文并不合她的口味，她也不理解他。 —

When Levin had abruptly departed, the princess was delighted, and said to her husband triumphantly: —
当莱文突然离开时，公主感到非常高兴，得意地对丈夫说：“你看，我是对的。”当弗朗斯基出现时，她更是喜出望外，坚信基蒂不仅会找到好彩婚姻，而是一个辉煌的婚姻。 —

“You see I was right.” When Vronsky appeared on the scene, she was still more delighted, confirmed in her opinion that Kitty was to make not simply a good, but a brilliant match.

In the mother’s eyes there could be no comparison between Vronsky and Levin. She disliked in Levin his strange and uncompromising opinions and his shyness in society, founded, as she supposed, on his pride and his queer sort of life, as she considered it, absorbed in cattle and peasants. —
在母亲的眼中，弗朗斯基和列文无法相提并论。她不喜欢列文奇怪和不妥协的观点，以及他在社交场合中的害羞，她认为这是建立在他的骄傲和奇怪的生活方式上，她认为他完全沉浸在牛和农民中。 —

She did not very much like it that he, who was in love with her daughter, had kept coming to the house for six weeks, as though he were waiting for something, inspecting, as though he were afraid he might be doing them too great an honor by making an offer, and did not realize that a man, who continually visits at a house where there is a young unmarried girl, is bound to make his intentions clear. —
她不太喜欢他，他爱上了她的女儿，竟然连续六个星期来家里，好像在等待着什么，视察着，好像他担心通过提出求婚会给他们带来太大的荣誉，而他没有意识到，一个经常在有未婚女子的家里拜访的男人必须明确自己的意图。 —

And suddenly, without doing so, he disappeared. —
突然间，他消失了，却没有向他们做出解释。 —

“It’s as well he’s not attractive enough for Kitty to have fallen in love with him,” thought the mother.
“幸好他不够有吸引力，让基蒂爱上他了。”母亲想道。

Vronsky satisfied all the mother’s desires. —
弗朗斯基满足了母亲的所有愿望。 —

Very wealthy, clever, of aristocratic family, on the highroad to a brilliant career in the army and at court, and a fascinating man. —
非常富有，聪明，出身贵族家庭，正走在军队和宫廷辉煌事业的道路上，是一个迷人的男人。 —

Nothing better could be wished for.
没有比这更好的了。

Vronsky openly flirted with Kitty at balls, danced with her, and came continually to the house, consequently there could be no doubt of the seriousness of his intentions. —
弗朗斯基在舞会上公开与基蒂调情，与她跳舞，并经常来到她家，因此他的意图是严肃的，毫无疑问。 —

But, in spite of that, the mother had spent the whole of that winter in a state of terrible anxiety and agitation.
但是，尽管如此，母亲整个冬天都处于可怕的焦虑和不安中。

Princess Shtcherbatskaya had herself been married thirty years ago, her aunt arranging the match. —
什切尔巴茨卡娅公主三十年前自己结婚，是由她的姑姑安排的婚姻。 —

Her husband, about whom everything was well known before hand, had come, looked at his future bride, and been looked at. —
她的丈夫，关于他的一切都事先已经为人所知，来了，看着他未来的新娘，然后也被她看了。 —

The match-making aunt had ascertained and communicated their mutual impression. —
媒人姑姑调查并传达了他们的相互印象。 —

That impression had been favorable. Afterwards, on a day fixed beforehand, the expected offer was made to her parents, and accepted. —
这个印象是有利的。然后，在事先约定的一天，这个预期的提议被向她的父母提出并接受。 —

All had passed very simply and easily. So it seemed, at least, to the princess. —
一切都进行得非常简单和顺利。至少在公主看来是这样。 —

But over her own daughters she had felt how far from simple and easy is the business, apparently so commonplace, of marrying off one’s daughters. —
但是在给自己的女儿们嫁人的事情上，她感受到了这个看似司空见惯的事情其实远非简单和容易。 —

The panics that had been lived through, the thoughts that had been brooded over, the money that had been wasted, and the disputes with her husband over marrying the two elder girls, Darya and Natalia! —
经历过的惊慌，沉思的念头，浪费的金钱，以及与丈夫因为给大女儿达丽娅和娜塔莉娅嫁人而产生的争吵！ —

Now, since the youngest had come out, she was going through the same terrors, the same doubts, and still more violent quarrels with her husband than she had over the elder girls. —
如今，因为最小的女儿也出嫁了，她又再次经历着同样的恐惧、疑虑，以及比前两个女儿还要激烈的与丈夫的争吵。 —

The old prince, like all fathers indeed, was exceedingly punctilious on the score of the honor and reputation of his daughters. —
老王子，像所有父亲一样，对于女儿们的荣誉和声誉非常讲究。 —

He was irrationally jealous over his daughters, especially over Kitty, who was his favorite. —
他对女儿们格外嫉妒，特别是对他最喜欢的凯蒂。 —

At every turn he had scenes with the princess for compromising her daughter. —
无论何时何地，他都会因为他们母女之间的事情与王妃争吵。 —

The princess had grown accustomed to this already with her other daughters, but now she felt that there was more ground for the prince’s touchiness. —
王妃对于她的其他女儿已经习以为常，但是现在她感觉到了王子敏感情绪的更多原因。 —

She saw that of late years much was changed in the manners of society, that a mother’s duties had become still more difficult. —
她看到近年来社会风尚有了很大变化，母亲的职责变得更加困难。 —

She saw that girls of Kitty’s age formed some sort of clubs, went to some sort of lectures, mixed freely in men’s society; —
她看到跟基蒂年龄相仿的女孩们成立了某种俱乐部，参加了某种讲座，自由地参与了男人的社交活动； —

drove about the streets alone, many of them did not curtsey, and, what was the most important thing, all the girls were firmly convinced that to choose their husbands was their own affair, and not their parents’. —
她们独自一个人到处开车，许多人不鞠躬，而且最重要的是，所有女孩都坚信选择丈夫是自己的事情，而不是父母的事情。 —

“Marriages aren’t made nowadays as they used to be,” was thought and said by all these young girls, and even by their elders. —
“婚姻如今不再像过去那样定下来了”，这是所有这些年轻女孩，甚至她们的长辈所认为和说的。 —

But how marriages were made now, the princess could not learn from any one. —
但是现在婚姻是如何进行的，公主无从得知。 —

The French fashion–of the parents arranging their children’s future–was not accepted; —
法国的风俗——父母安排孩子的未来——并没有被接受； —

it was condemned. The English fashion of the complete independence of girls was also not accepted, and not possible in Russian society. —
它被谴责了。英国的女孩完全独立的风俗在俄罗斯社会中也没有被接受，也不可能接受。 —

The Russian fashion of match-making by the offices if intermediate persons was for some reason considered unseemly; —
使用中间人代理办公室安排婚事的俄罗斯方式在某种程度上被认为是不得体的； —

it was ridiculed by every one, and by the princess herself. —
每个人都嘲笑它，甚至连公主本人也是如此。 —

But how girls were to be married, and how parents were to marry them, no one knew. —
但是谁该嫁给女孩，以及父母如何为他们安排婚姻，却无人知晓。 —

Everyone with whom the princess had chanced to discuss the matter said the same thing: —
公主碰到的每个人在讨论这个问题时都说着同样的话： —

“Mercy on us, it’s high time in our day to cast off all that old-fashioned business. —
“天啊，在我们这个时代还依旧坚持这种老派的事情真是该赶紧丢弃了。 —

It’s the young people have to marry; and not their parents; —
婚姻是年轻人的事情，而不是他们的父母； —

and so we ought to leave the young people to arrange it as they choose.” —
所以我们应该让年轻人按自己的意愿安排。” —

It was very easy for anyone to say that who had no daughters, but the princess realized that in the process of getting to know each other, her daughter might fall in love, and fall in love with someone who did not care to marry her or who was quite unfit to be her husband. —
任何没有女儿的人都很容易说这种话，但是公主意识到，在彼此了解的过程中，她的女儿可能会爱上一个不愿意娶她或者完全不适合做她丈夫的人。 —

And, however much it was instilled into the princess that in our times young people ought to arrange their lives for themselves, she was unable to believe it, just as she would have been unable to believe that, at any time whatever, the most suitable playthings for children five years old ought to be loaded pistols. —
无论公主如何教育她，让她相信在我们这个时代，年轻人应该为自己的生活安排，她却无法相信，就像她无法相信，在任何时候，适合五岁孩子的玩具应该是装弹的手枪。 —

And so the princess was more uneasy over Kitty than she had been over her elder sisters.
因此，公主对基蒂比她姐姐更为不安。

Now she was afraid that Vronsky might confine himself to simply flirting with her daughter. —
她担心弗朗斯基可能只是和她的女儿调情。 —

She saw that her daughter was in love with him, but tried to comfort herself with the thought that he was an honorable man, and would not do this. —
她看出女儿爱上了他，但她想安慰自己，认为他是个有名誉的人，不会这么做。 —

But at the same time she knew how easy it is, with the freedom of manners of today, to turn a girl’s head, and how lightly men generally regard such a crime. —
但与此同时，她知道在当今自由的礼仪下，很容易让一个女孩迷失自我，而男人们通常对这种罪行看得很轻。 —

The week before, Kitty had told her mother of a conversation she had with Vronsky during a mazurka. —
在一周前，基蒂告诉她妈妈她与弗朗斯基在一支波尔卡舞曲期间的一次对话。 —

This conversation had partly reassured the princess; but perfectly at ease she could not be. —
这次谈话在一定程度上使公主感到放心；但她仍然不能完全放下心。 —

Vronsky had told Kitty that both he and his brother were so used to obeying their mother that they never made up their minds to any important undertaking without consulting her. —
弗朗斯基告诉吉蒂，他和他的兄弟都习惯了听从母亲的话，在做任何重要的决定之前都会征求她的意见。 —

“And just now, I am impatiently awaiting my mother’s arrival from Petersburg, as peculiarly fortunate,” he told her.
“而且现在，我正在焦急地等待我母亲从彼得堡回来，因为这对我来说是特别幸运的事情，”他告诉她。

Kitty had repeated this without attaching any significance to the words. —
吉蒂重复了这句话，但并没有给它附加任何意义。 —

But her mother saw them in a different light. —
但是她的母亲以不同的角度看待了这些话。 —

She knew that the old lady was expected from day to day, that she would be pleased at her son’s choice, and she felt it strange that he should not make his offer through fear of vexing his mother. —
她知道老太太随时都可能到来，她会对儿子的选择感到高兴，她觉得他不愿冒着惹母亲生气的风险来求婚是很奇怪的。 —

However, she was so anxious for the marriage itself, and still more for relief from her fears, that she believed it was so. —
不过，她非常期待婚礼本身，更希望解除自己的担忧，所以她认为可能是这样。 —

Bitter as it was for the princess to see the unhappiness of her eldest daughter, Dolly, on the point of leaving her husband, her anxiety over the decision of her youngest daughter’s fate engrossed all her feelings. —
尽管对于公主而言，看到她的长女多莉即将离开丈夫并感到不快，但她对于最小的女儿命运的决定感到非常焦虑，这成为她所有情绪的焦点。 —

Today, with Levin’s reappearance, a fresh source of anxiety arose. —
而今天，随着列文再次出现，她又有一个新的焦虑来源。 —

She was afraid that her daughter, who had at one time, as she fancied, a feeling for Levin, might, from extreme sense of honor, refuse Vronsky, and that Levin’s arrival might generally complicate and delay the affair so near being concluded.
她担心女儿原本对列文有过感情，因为极度的荣誉感而拒绝维龙斯基，而列文的到来可能会普遍地使事情更加复杂和拖延，而事情离完成已经非常近了。

“Why, has be been here long?” the princess asked about Levin, as they returned home.
“哎呀，他在这儿多久了？”回到家后公主问起了列文。

“He came today, mamma.”
“他今天来的，妈妈。”

“There’s one thing I want to say…” began the princess, and from her serious and alert face, Kitty guessed what it would be.
“有件事我想说……”公主开始说道。而从她认真而警觉的脸上，吉蒂猜到了是什么。

“Mamma,” she said, flushing hotly and turning quickly to her, “please, please don’t say anything about that. —
“妈妈，”她脸红，迅速地转向母亲，“请，请不要谈论那件事。” —

I know, I know all about it.”
“我知道，我全都知道。”

She wished for what her mother wished for, but the motives of her mother’s wishes wounded her.
她也希望母亲希望的事情，但母亲希望的动机伤害了她。

“I only want to say that to raise hopes…”
“我只想说，为了给人们带来希望…”

“Mamma, darling, for goodness’ sake, don’t talk about it. It’s so horrible to talk about it.”
“妈妈，亲爱的，求求你，别谈论这个。谈论这个太可怕了。”

“I won’t,” said her mother, seeing the tears in her daughter’s eyes; —
“好的，”她母亲说，看到女儿眼中的泪水； —

“but one thing, my love; you promised me you would have no secrets from me. You won’t?”
“但是，亲爱的，你答应过我不会有任何隐瞒。你不会吧？”

“Never, mamma, none,” answered Kitty, flushing a little, and looking her mother straight in the face, “but there’s no use in my telling you anything, and I…I…if I wanted to, I don’t know what to say or how…I don’t know…”
“从来不会，妈妈，一点也没有，”Kitty回答，微微脸红，直视着母亲的脸，“但是告诉你也没有什么用，而且我…我…如果我想告诉你，我不知道该说什么或者怎么说…我不知道…”

“No, she could not tell an untruth with those eyes,” thought the mother, smiling at her agitation and happiness. —
“不，凭借那双眼睛，她不可能撒谎，”母亲想着，微笑着看着她的不安和幸福。 —

The princess smiled that what was taking place just now in her soul seemed to the poor child so immense and so important.
公主微笑着，觉得她内心中正在发生的事情对这个可怜的孩子来说如此巨大和重要。