The countess Sabine, as it had become customary to call Mme Muffat de Beuville in order to distinguish her from the count’s mother, who had died the year before, was wont to receive every Tuesday in her house in the Rue Miromesnil at the corner of the Rue de Pentievre. —
习惯上称之为Sabine女伯爵的Mme Muffat de Beuville，以便与她去世的岳母区分开来，在Rue Miromesnil街的角落处的她的住宅里，每周二都会接待客人。 —

It was a great square building, and the Muffats had lived in it for a hundred years or more. —
这是一座宏伟的四方建筑，Muffats一家已经住在这里已经100年了，或者更久。 —

On the side of the street its frontage seemed to slumber, so lofty was it and dark, so sad and conventlike, with its great outer shutters, which were nearly always closed. —
从街上看，它的正面似乎沉睡着，因为太高大了，太黑暗，太像修道院了，那些巨大的外百叶窗几乎总是关着。 —

And at the back in a little dark garden some trees had grown up and were straining toward the sunlight with such long slender branches that their tips were visible above the roof.
而在后面的一个小黑暗花园里，一些树木长大了，它们用如此长而细的枝条朝阳光伸展，以至于它们的尖端在屋顶上可见。

This particular Tuesday, toward ten o’clock in the evening, there were scarcely a dozen people in the drawing room. —
这个特定的周二晚上，在晚上十点左右，客厅里几乎只有十几个人。 —

When she was only expecting intimate friends the countess opened neither the little drawing room nor the dining room. —
当她只期望亲密的朋友时，女伯爵既不打开小客厅，也不打开餐厅。 —

One felt more at home on such occasions and chatted round the fire. —
在这样的场合，人们感到更亲切，围着火炉边聊天。 —

The drawing room was very large and very lofty; —
这间客厅非常大，而且非常高大； —

its four windows looked out upon the garden, from which, on this rainy evening of the close of April, issued a sensation of damp despite the great logs burning on the hearth. —
四扇窗户俯瞰着花园，在这个四月末的雨天里，尽管壁炉上燃烧着巨大的木柴，但仍能感受到潮湿的感觉。 —

The sun never shone down into the room; in the daytime it was dimly lit up by a faint greenish light, but at night, when the lamps and the chandelier were burning, it looked merely a serious old chamber with its massive mahogany First Empire furniture, its hangings and chair coverings of yellow velvet, stamped with a large design. —
太阳从未照进这个房间；白天里，房间被微弱的绿色光线照亮，但晚上，当灯和吊灯点燃时，它只是一个古雅的老房间，其庄重的一席首都帝国家具，大黄色丝绒的挂件和椅套，上面印着一个大花纹。 —

Entering it, one was in an atmosphere of cold dignity, of ancient manners, of a vanished age, the air of which seemed devotional.
踏进这个房间，就会感受到一种冷漠而庄重的氛围，仿佛穿越到了一个已逝的时代，这种氛围如同虔诚的。

Opposite the armchair, however, in which the count’s mother had died–a square armchair of formal design and inhospitable padding, which stood by the hearthside–the Countess Sabine was seated in a deep and cozy lounge, the red silk upholsteries of which were soft as eider down. —
然而，在那把扶手椅的对面，即伯爵母亲曾经去世的地方——一把设计正式、垫子不舒适的方形扶手椅，就立着——萨宾伯爵夫人坐在一张深沉舒适的懒人椅上，那椅子的红丝绸垫面柔软得就像鸭绒垫一样。 —

It was the only piece of modern furniture there, a fanciful item introduced amid the prevailing severity and clashing with it.
那是那里唯一一件现代风格的家具，一个异想天开的东西，夹杂在那儿严肃的室内设计中显得特别与众不同。

“So we shall have the shah of Persia,” the young woman was saying.
“那么我们将会迎来波斯国王，”年轻女人说。

They were talking of the crowned heads who were coming to Paris for the exhibition. —
她们在讨论为了展览会而来到巴黎的加冕君主。 —

Several ladies had formed a circle round the hearth, and Mme du Joncquoy, whose brother, a diplomat, had just fulfilled a mission in the East, was giving some details about the court of Nazr-ed-Din.
几位女士站在壁炉旁围成一圈，杜让科夫夫人的兄弟是外交官，刚刚在东方完成一个任务，她正在详述纳兹雷丁的宫廷情况。

“Are you out of sorts, my dear?” asked Mme Chantereau, the wife of an ironmaster, seeing the countess shivering slightly and growing pale as she did so.
“亲爱的，你不舒服吗？”铁工业大亨夫人尚特洛夫问道，见到伯爵夫人微微发抖，脸色苍白。

“Oh no, not at all,” replied the latter, smiling. —
“哦，不，一点也不。”后者笑着回答道。 —

“I felt a little cold. This drawing room takes so long to warm.”
“我感到有点冷。这个客厅要很长时间才能温暖起来。”

And with that she raised her melancholy eyes and scanned the walls from floor to ceiling. —
随即她抬起忧郁的眼睛，从地板到天花板扫视着墙壁。 —

Her daughter Estelle, a slight, insignificant-looking girl of sixteen, the thankless period of life, quitted the large footstool on which she was sitting and silently came and propped up one of the logs which had rolled from its place. —
她的女儿埃斯泰尔，一个十六岁的瘦弱不起眼的小姑娘，在她正在坐的大脚凳上离开，并默默地支撑起滚落的木柴之一。 —

But Mme de Chezelles, a convent friend of Sabine’s and her junior by five years, exclaimed:
但是夏贝尔的修道院朋友、年轻五岁的夏泽莱夫人呼喊道：

“Dear me, I would gladly be possessed of a drawing room such as yours! —
“天哪，我多么愿拥有像你这样的客厅！ —

At any rate, you are able to receive visitors. —
无论如何，你能够接待访客。 —

They only build boxes nowadays. Oh, if I were in your place!”
现在他们只建盒子。哦，若我处在你的位置上！”

She ran giddily on and with lively gestures explained how she would alter the hangings, the seats–everything, in fact. —
她兴奋地说着，并且以生动的手势解释着她会如何改变窗帘、座位–事实上，是所有的东西。 —

Then she would give balls to which all Paris should run. —
然后她会举办舞会，巴黎的人都会来参加。 —

Behind her seat her husband, a magistrate, stood listening with serious air. —
在她座位的后面，她的丈夫，一位法官，站着认真地听着。 —

It was rumored that she deceived him quite openly, but people pardoned her offense and received her just the same, because, they said, “she’s not answerable for her actions.”
有传言说她公然欺骗他，但人们原谅了她的罪行，并对她保持了原来的态度，因为他们说：“她对自己的行为不负责任。”

“Oh that Leonide!” the Countess Sabine contented herself by murmuring, smiling her faint smile the while.
“哦，那个莱奥尼达！”萨宾伯爵夫人轻声喃喃，微笑着。

With a languid movement she eked out the thought that was in her. —
她无精打采地动了一下，表达了她蹒跚的思想。 —

After having lived there seventeen years she certainly would not alter her drawing room now. —
在那里住了十七年后，她肯定不会再改变她的客厅了。 —

It would henceforth remain just such as her mother-in-law had wished to preserve it during her lifetime. —
从今以后，它将保持母亲亲自保留的那种模样。 —

Then returning to the subject of conversation:
然后又回到了谈话的主题上：

“I have been assured,” she said, “that we shall also have the king of Prussia and the emperor of Russia.”
“有人告诉我，我们还会有普鲁士国王和俄罗斯皇帝。”她说。

‘Yes, some very fine fetes are promised,” said Mme du Joncquoy.
“是的，承诺了一些非常好的庆祝活动。”德·尚库瓦夫人说。

The banker Steiner, not long since introduced into this circle by Leonide de Chezelles, who was acquainted with the whole of Parisian society, was sitting chatting on a sofa between two of the windows. —
在窗户之间的沙发上坐着由莱奥尼达·德·谢泽尔斯介绍到这个圈子里的银行家斯泰纳聊天。 —

He was questioning a deputy, from whom he was endeavoring with much adroitness to elicit news about a movement on the stock exchange of which he had his suspicions, while the Count Muffat, standing in front of them, was silently listening to their talk, looking, as he did so, even grayer than was his wont.
他在询问一名副手，他正在巧妙地努力获取有关他怀疑的股票交易动向的新闻，而Muffat伯爵站在他们面前，默默地听着他们的谈话，看起来比平常更加苍白。

Four or five young men formed another group near the door round the Count Xavier de Vandeuvres, who in a low tone was telling them an anecdote. —
四五个年轻人在门口另一个小组周围聚集，他们围着Xavier de Vandeuvres伯爵，低声告诉他们一个轶事。 —

It was doubtless a very risky one, for they were choking with laughter. —
毫无疑问，这是一个非常冒险的轶事，因为他们笑得喘不过气来。 —

Companionless in the center of the room, a stout man, a chief clerk at the Ministry of the Interior, sat heavily in an armchair, dozing with his eyes open. —
独自一人坐在房间中央的地方，一位内政部的首席办事员沉重地坐在扶手椅上，眼睛睁着却在打瞌睡。 —

But when one of the young men appeared to doubt the truth of the anecdote Vandeuvres raised his voice.
但是当其中一位年轻人似乎对这个轶事的真实性表示怀疑时，Vandeuvres提高了声音。

“You are too much of a skeptic, Foucarmont; you’ll spoil all your pleasures that way.”
“你太怀疑了，Foucarmont，这样你会破坏所有的乐趣。”

And he returned to the ladies with a laugh. —
他笑着回到女士们那里。 —

Last scion of a great family, of feminine manners and witty tongue, he was at that time running through a fortune with a rage of life and appetite which nothing could appease. —
一个伟大家族的最后一位继承人，举止优雅、口才机智，在当时他毫不节制地挥霍着财富，生活的狂热和欲望无法得到满足。 —

His racing stable, which was one of the best known in Paris, cost him a fabulous amount of money; —
他在巴黎拥有的赛马场堪称最有名气之一，花费了他难以想象的庞大金额。 —

his betting losses at the Imperial Club amounted monthly to an alarming number of pounds, while taking one year with another, his mistresses would be always devouring now a farm, now some acres of arable land or forest, which amounted, in fact, to quite a respectable slice of his vast estates in Picardy.
他在帝国俱乐部的赌博亏损每月都达到可怕的几百英镑，平均下来，他的情妇总是在吞噬他的庄园，有时是农场，有时是一片可耕地或森林，实际上这相当于他在皮卡第庞大产业中相当可观的一部分财产。

“I advise you to call other people skeptics! —
“我劝你把其他人都叫做怀疑论者！” —

Why, you don’t believe a thing yourself,” said Leonide, making shift to find him a little space in which to sit down at her side.
“哎呀，你自己什么都不相信。”莱昂妮德说着，费力地给他找了一个可以坐下的小地方。

“It’s you who spoil your own pleasures.”
“就是你自己糟蹋了自己的快乐。”

“Exactly,” he replied. “I wish to make others benefit by my experience.”
“确切地说，”他答道，”我希望让别人受益于我的经验。”

But the company imposed silence on him: he was scandalizing M. Venot. And, the ladies having changed their positions, a little old man of sixty, with bad teeth and a subtle smile, became visible in the depths of an easy chair. —
但是公司禁止他说话：他谈论到了文瑞先生。而且，女士们也改变了他们的姿势，一个约六十岁、牙齿不好、微笑狡黠的老人在一把舒适的椅子的深处显露出来。 —

There he sat as comfortably as in his own house, listening to everybody’s remarks and making none himself. —
他坐得像在自己家里一样舒适，听着每个人的言论，自己却一言不发。 —

With a slight gesture he announced himself by no means scandalized. —
他轻轻地示意自己并不以为所动。 —

Vandeuvres once more assumed his dignified bearing and added gravely:
凡德沃尔再次摆出庄重的姿态，庄重地补充道：

“Monsieur Venot is fully aware that I believe what it is one’s duty to believe.”
“文瑞先生完全知道我相信应该相信的东西。”

It was an act of faith, and even Leonide appeared satisfied. —
这是一种信仰的行为，甚至勒奥尼德都满意了。 —

The young men at the end of the room no longer laughed; —
房间尽头的年轻人不再笑了； —

the company were old fogies, and amusement was not to be found there. —
公司里都是些守旧的人，那里找不到任何娱乐。 —

A cold breath of wind had passed over them, and amid the ensuing silence Steiner’s nasal voice became audible. —
一股寒风吹过他们，随着寂静的出现，斯泰纳的鼻音清晰可闻。 —

The deputy’s discreet answers were at last driving him to desperation. —
代表的谨慎回答终于令他绝望。 —

For a second or two the Countess Sabine looked at the fire; then she resumed the conversation.
萨宾伯爵夫人看了一两秒钟火，然后继续谈话。

“I saw the king of Prussia at Baden-Baden last year. He’s still full of vigor for his age.”
“我去年在巴登-巴登见过普鲁士国王。他的年纪还很有活力。”

“Count Bismarck is to accompany him,” said Mme du Joncquoy. “Do you know the count? —
马龙女士说：“比斯马克伯爵将陪同他一同前往。” “你认识这位伯爵吗？” —

I lunched with him at my brother’s ages ago, when he was representative of Prussia in Paris. There’s a man now whose latest successes I cannot in the least understand.”
我很久以前在我哥哥那里和他共进午餐，那时他是普鲁士驻巴黎代表。他这位最近最新的成就真是让我完全无法理解。”

“But why?” asked Mme Chantereau.
“但是为什么？”让特罗女士问道。

“Good gracious, how am I to explain? He doesn’t please me. —
“天哪，我该怎么解释？他不讨我喜欢。” —

His appearance is boorish and underbred. —
他的外表粗俗无礼。 —

Besides, so far as I am concerned, I find him stupid.”
此外，就我而言，我觉得他很蠢。”

With that the whole room spoke of Count Bismarck, and opinions differed considerably. —
于是整个房间都在谈论比斯马克伯爵，不同的意见存在很大分歧。 —

Vandeuvres knew him and assured the company that he was great in his cups and at play. —
万德弗勒斯认识他，并向大家保证他在酒宴和赌博中非常厉害。 —

But when the discussion was at its height the door was opened, and Hector de la Falois made his appearance. —
但是当讨论达到高潮时，门被打开，赫克托尔·德·拉·法卢瓦出现了。 —

Fauchery, who followed in his wake, approached the countess and, bowing:
正在他后面跟着的福歇里向伯爵夫人走近，并鞠躬道：“

“Madame,” he said, “I have not forgotten your extremely kind invitation.”
“夫人，”他说，“我没有忘记您极其友好的邀请。”

She smiled and made a pretty little speech. —
她微笑着做了一番漂亮的讲话。 —

The journalist, after bowing to the count, stood for some moments in the middle of the drawing room. He only recognized Steiner and accordingly looked rather out of his element. —
记者向伯爵鞠了一躬，站在客厅中央片刻。他只认出了斯泰纳，因此显得有些不自在。 —

But Vandeuvres turned and came and shook hands with him. —
但范德维尔斯转身过来握了握他的手。 —

And forthwith, in his delight at the meeting and with a sudden desire to be confidential, Fauchery buttonholed him and said in a low voice:
于是，快乐的会面使他突然产生了一种想要亲近的愿望，弗舍里拉住了他，低声说道：

“It’s tomorrow. Are you going?”
“明天，你去吗？”

“Egad, yes.”
“呸，是的。”

“At midnight, at her house.
“午夜，在她家。”

“I know, I know. I’m going with Blanche.”
“我知道，我知道。我会和布兰琪一起去。”

He wanted to escape and return to the ladies in order to urge yet another reason in M. de Bismarck’s favor. —
他想逃脱回到女士们那里，以便给他们敦促另一个支持比斯马克先生的理由。 —

But Fauchery detained him.
但弗舍里留住了他。

“You never will guess whom she has charged me to invite.”
“你永远猜不到她要我邀请谁。”

And with a slight nod he indicated Count Muffat, who was just then discussing a knotty point in the budget with Steiner and the deputy.
他微微点头示意了一下穆法，那时他正与斯泰纳和副手讨论一个繁琐的议题。

“It’s impossible,” said Vandeuvres, stupefaction and merriment in his tones. “My word on it! —
“这是不可能的，”范德夫人说道，他的语气中充满了困惑和欢乐。“我发誓！ —

I had to swear that I would bring him to her. —
我必须发誓，我会把他带给她。 —

Indeed, that’s one of my reasons for coming here.”
确实，这是我来这里的原因之一。”

Both laughed silently, and Vandeuvres, hurriedly rejoining the circle of ladies, cried out:
两人默默地笑了起来，范德夫人匆匆回到女士们的圈子里，喊道：

“I declare that on the contrary Monsieur de Bismarck is exceedingly witty. —
“相反，我要说俾斯麦先生非常风趣。 —

For instance, one evening he said a charmingly epigrammatic thing in my presence.”
例如，有一天晚上他在我面前说了一句非常机智的话。”

La Faloise meanwhile had heard the few rapid sentences thus whisperingly interchanged, and he gazed at Fauchery in hopes of an explanation which was not vouchsafed him. —
同时，拉法洛瓦（La Faloise）听到这几句迅速的窃窃私语，他望着福谢里（Fauchery），希望得到一个并没有给予他的解释。 —

Of whom were they talking, and what were they going to do at midnight tomorrow? —
他们在谈论谁，明天午夜他们要做什么？ —

He did not leave his cousin’s side again. The latter had gone and seated himself. —
他再也没有离开他表兄的身边了。后者已经坐了下来。 —

He was especially interested by the Countess Sabine. —
他对萨宾女伯爵特别感兴趣。 —

Her name had often been mentioned in his presence, and he knew that, having been married at the age of seventeen, she must now be thirty-four and that since her marriage she had passed a cloistered existence with her husband and her mother-in-law. —
他经常在他面前提到她的名字，他知道她在17岁时结婚，现在应该已经34岁了，并且自从婚后她与丈夫和婆婆一起过着闭门不出的生活。 —

In society some spoke of her as a woman of religious chastity, while others pitied her and recalled to memory her charming bursts of laughter and the burning glances of her great eyes in the days prior to her imprisonment in this old town house. —
在社交圈中，有些人说她是一个具有宗教贞节的女人，而其他人则对她表示同情，并回忆起她在被困在这座老宅邸之前迷人的笑声和炽热的目光。 —

Fauchery scrutinized her and yet hesitated. —
法舍里仔细观察她，但犹豫不决。 —

One of his friends, a captain who had recently died in Mexico, had, on the very eve of his departure, made him one of those gross postprandial confessions, of which even the most prudent among men are occasionally guilty. —
他的一个朋友，在最近的一次墨西哥之行前夕，向他倾诉了一些酒后的下流话，连最小心的人偶尔也会犯这种错误。 —

But of this he only retained a vague recollection; —
但他只保留了对此的模糊回忆。 —

they had dined not wisely but too well that evening, and when he saw the countess, in her black dress and with her quiet smile, seated in that Old World drawing room, he certainly had his doubts. —
们那天晚上吃得不够聪明，但太丰盛了，当他看到伯爵夫人穿着黑裙子，笑容宁静地坐在那个古老的客厅里时，他确实有些怀疑。 —

A lamp which had been placed behind her threw into clear relief her dark, delicate, plump side face, wherein a certain heaviness in the contours of the mouth alone indicated a species of imperious sensuality.
个放在她后面的灯照得她深色的、纤细的、丰满的侧脸清晰可见，只有嘴唇轮廓中的一处厚重表现出一种倔强的感官享受。

“What do they want with their Bismarck?” muttered La Faloise, whose constant pretense it was to be bored in good society. —
他们对他们的俾斯麦有什么要求？”La Faloise嘟囔着说，他总是假装在上流社交中感到厌烦。 —

“One’s ready to kick the bucket here. A pretty idea of yours it was to want to come!”
人在这里都准备死了。你想要来这里真是个好主意！”

Fauchery questioned him abruptly.
奥谢里突然问他。

“Now tell me, does the countess admit someone to her embraces?”
告诉我，伯爵夫人承认有人进入她的怀抱吗？”

“Oh dear, no, no! My dear fellow!” he stammered, manifestly taken aback and quite forgetting his pose. —
哦不，不，亲爱的伙计！”他结结巴巴地说，明显吃了一惊，完全忘记了他的伪装。 —

“Where d’you think we are?”
你觉得我们在哪里？”

After which he was conscious of a want of up-to-dateness in this outburst of indignation and, throwing himself back on a great sofa, he added:
着，他意识到他的这段愤怒发泄中缺乏最新的信息，他仰椅坐在一张宽大的沙发上，补充道：“你还没回答我的问题。”

“Gad! I say no! But I don’t know much about it. —
“该死！我说不，我对此一无所知。 —

There’s a little chap out there, Foucarmont they call him, who’s to be met with everywhere and at every turn. —
那里有个小人物，他叫福卡蒙特，无论走到哪里都能见到他。 —

One’s seen faster men than that, though, you bet. —
尽管如此，我见过比他更快的人，你可以赌一赌。 —

However, it doesn’t concern me, and indeed, all I know is that if the countess indulges in high jinks she’s still pretty sly about it, for the thing never gets about–nobody talks.”
不过，这与我无关，我只知道如果女伯爵搞什么花样，她还是相当狡猾的，因为消息从来不泄露出去——没有人谈论。

Then although Fauchery did not take the trouble to question him, he told him all he knew about the Muffats. —
尽管福克里没有费心去询问他，他还是告诉了他所有关于马夫塔的事情。 —

Amid the conversation of the ladies, which still continued in front of the hearth, they both spoke in subdued tones, and, seeing them there with their white cravats and gloves, one might have supposed them to be discussing in chosen phraseology some really serious topic. —
在女士们仍在炉前谈话的情况下，他们俩用低沉的声音说话，如果看见他们戴着白色领带和手套，人们可能会以为他们正在用精选的措辞讨论一些真正严肃的话题。 —

Old Mme Muffat then, whom La Faloise had been well acquainted with, was an insufferable old lady, always hand in glove with the priests. —
而那个洛费兹先生熟悉的老伯爵夫人非常讨人厌，她总是和神父们保持密切关系。” —

She had the grand manner, besides, and an authoritative way of comporting herself, which bent everybody to her will. —
她还有一种盛大的礼貌方式，加上一种权威的举止方式，这使得每个人都按照她的意愿行事。 —

As to Muffat, he was an old man’s child; —
至于马法，他是一个老人的孩子； —

his father, a general, had been created count by Napoleon I, and naturally he had found himself in favor after the second of December. —
他的父亲是一位将军，拿破仑一世封他为伯爵，自然在十二月二日后他就得到了青睐。 —

He hadn’t much gaiety of manner either, but he passed for a very honest man of straightforward intentions and understanding. —
他的举止也没有多少快乐，但他被认为是一个非常诚实、有着直率意图和理解力的人。 —

Add to these a code of old aristocratic ideas and such a lofty conception of his duties at court, of his dignities and of his virtues, that he behaved like a god on wheels. —
此外，他还有一整套古老的贵族思想和对自己在宫廷中的职责、尊严和美德的崇高概念，以至于他举止如神一般。 —

It was the Mamma Muffat who had given him this precious education with its daily visits to the confessional, its complete absence of escapades and of all that is meant by youth. —
这是玛玛·马法（Mama Muffat）给他提供的宝贵教育，包括每天去告解、完全没有任何逃避行为以及意味着青春的事情。 —

He was a practicing Christian and had attacks of faith of such fiery violence that they might be likened to accesses of burning fever. —
他是个虔诚的基督徒，有时候甚至有如火般热烈的信仰狂热，可以类比为患有高烧的发作。 —

Finally, in order to add a last touch to the picture, La Faloise whispered something in his cousin’s ear.
最后，为了为画面增添最后一点点儿，拉法洛瓦兹对他的表弟耳语了一番。

“You don’t say so!” said the latter.
“真不敢相信！”表弟说道。

“On my word of honor, they swore it was true! He was still like that when he married.”
“我以我的名誉担保，他们发誓这是真的！他在结婚的时候还是那个样子。”

Fauchery chuckled as he looked at the count, whose face, with its fringe of whiskers and absence of mustaches, seemed to have grown squarer and harder now that he was busy quoting figures to the writhing, struggling Steiner.
福谢里望着那位计算着数目的扭动不停的斯坦纳并发出轻笑声。那位倒三角胡子男子脸上僧侣般的胡须使得他的脸显得更加坚实且棱角分明。

“My word, he’s got a phiz for it!” murmured Fauchery. “A pretty present he made his wife! —
“天哪，他的样子真是搞笑！”福谢里喃喃自语道。“他给他的妻子可真是个好大的礼物！ —

Poor little thing, how he must have bored her! —
可怜的小姑娘，他肯定让她觉得无聊透顶了！ —

She knows nothing about anything, I’ll wager!”
我敢打赌她对任何事都一无所知！”

Just then the Countess Sabine was saying something to him. —
就在这时，萨宾伯爵夫人对他说了些什么。 —

But he did not hear her, so amusing and extraordinary did he esteem the Muffats’ case. —
然而他没有听见，因为他对穆法特夫妇的案子感到太有趣和太特别了。 —

She repeated the question.
她再次问了一遍。

“Monsieur Fauchery, have you not published a sketch of Monsieur de Bismarck? —
“福谢里先生，你没有刊登过奥托·冯·俾斯麦的草图吗？ —

You spoke with him once?”
和他交谈过一次吗？”

He got up briskly and approached the circle of ladies, endeavoring to collect himself and soon with perfect ease of manner finding an answer:
他迅速站起来，走向那群女士，努力努力收拾自己，很快轻松自如地找到了答案：

“Dear me, madame, I assure you I wrote that ‘portrait’ with the help of biographies which had been published in Germany. —
“天哪，夫人，我向您保证，我是借助在德国出版的传记书写的这个‘画像’。 —

I have never seen Monsieur de Bismarck.”
我从未见过俾斯麦先生。”

He remained beside the countess and, while talking with her, continued his meditations. —
他站在女伯爵旁边，一边与她交谈，一边继续思考。 —

She did not look her age; one would have set her down as being twenty-eight at most, for her eyes, above all, which were filled with the dark blue shadow of her long eyelashes, retained the glowing light of youth. —
她看起来没有她实际年龄的样子；她最多被人们估计为28岁，因为她的眼睛，尤其是她那长长的睫毛上闪耀着青春的光芒。 —

Bred in a divided family, so that she used to spend one month with the Marquis de Chouard, another with the marquise, she had been married very young, urged on, doubtless, by her father, whom she embarrassed after her mother’s death. —
她是在一个分裂的家庭中长大的，所以她过去总是一个月和夏尔德侯爵在一起，另一个月与女侯爵在一起，她很年轻就结婚了，毫无疑问，是由于父亲的催促，他在母亲去世后感到为难。 —

A terrible man was the marquis, a man about whom strange tales were beginning to be told, and that despite his lofty piety! —
侯爵是个可怕的人，关于他已经开始有些奇怪的传闻了，尽管他虔诚高尚！ —

Fauchery asked if he should have the honor of meeting him. —
福舍里问是否应该有幸见到他。 —

Certainly her father was coming, but only very late; he had so much work on hand! —
她的父亲肯定会来，但只会很晚，他手头有很多工作。 —

The journalist thought he knew where the old gentleman passed his evenings and looked grave. —
记者以为自己知道这位老绅士晚上的去处，面色严肃。 —

But a mole, which he noticed close to her mouth on the countess’s left cheek, surprised him. —
但是一个痣吸引了他的注意，它在伯爵夫人左脸的嘴边附近。 —

Nana had precisely the same mole. It was curious. —
娜娜也有同样的痣。真奇怪。 —

Tiny hairs curled up on it, only they were golden in Nana’s case, black as jet in this. —
它上面还有细小的毛发，只是娜娜的是金黄色的，而这个人的是漆黑的。 —

Ah well, never mind! This woman enjoyed
噢，不用担心！这个女人享受

nobody’s embraces.
没有人的拥抱。

“I have always felt a wish to know Queen Augusta,” she said. —
“我一直希望认识奥古斯塔女王，”她说。 —

“They say she is so good, so devout. Do you think she will accompany the king?”
“据说她是如此善良、虔诚。您认为她会陪同国王吗？”

“It is not thought that she will, madame,” he replied.
“据说不会，夫人，”他回答道。

She had no lovers: the thing was only too apparent. —
她没有情人：这一点是显而易见的。 —

One had only to look at her there by the side of that daughter of hers, sitting so insignificant and constrained on her footstool. —
只需看着她坐在她女儿旁边，无足轻重且拘谨的样子，就能明白这一点。 —

That sepulchral drawing room of hers, which exhaled odors suggestive of being in a church, spoke as plainly as words could of the iron hand, the austere mode of existence, that weighed her down. —
她那座充满教堂气息的阴冷客厅，好像比语言更能清楚地传达出她那沉重的铁腕，严苛的生活方式。 —

There was nothing suggestive of her own personality in that ancient abode, black with the damps of years. —
在那座古老的住所里，充斥着岁月的阴霾，没有任何暗示她个人特质的痕迹。 —

It was Muffat who made himself felt there, who dominated his surroundings with his devotional training, his penances and his fasts. —
是马法特使这样的氛围得以存在，他用他的虔诚训练、自我苦行和禁食来支配着周围的一切。 —

But the sight of the little old gentleman with the black teeth and subtle smile whom he suddenly discovered in his armchair behind the group of ladies afforded him a yet more decisive argument. —
但是，他突然在女士们的前面的扶手椅上发现了一个黑牙和微笑的小老先生，这给了他更加具有说服力的证据。 —

He knew the personage. It was Theophile Venot, a retired lawyer who had made a specialty of church cases. —
他认识这个人物。那是提奥菲勒·维诺特，一个以处理教堂案件为专业的退休律师。 —

He had left off practice with a handsome fortune and was now leading a sufficiently mysterious existence, for he was received everywhere, treated with great deference and even somewhat feared, as though he had been the representative of a mighty force, an occult power, which was felt to be at his back. —
他以丰厚的财富结束了他的执业生涯，如今过着相当神秘的生活，因为他无论到哪里都受到欢迎，受到极大的尊敬，甚至有些人害怕他，仿佛他是一个强大力量的代表，一种隐秘的力量感觉到他的背后支持着他。 —

Nevertheless, his behavior was very humble. —
然而，他的行为非常谦逊。 —

He was churchwarden at the Madeleine Church and had simply accepted the post of deputy mayor at the town house of the Ninth Arrondissement in order, as he said, to have something to do in his leisure time. —
他是马德莲教堂的教务长，并仅仅接受了第九区市政府的副市长职位，就像他自己说的，让自己在闲暇时间有点事情可做。 —

Deuce take it, the countess was well guarded; —
该死的，伯爵夫人有人保护得很好，没办法在那方面做什么。 —

there was nothing to be done in that quarter.
在那一方面没有任何事情可做。

“You’re right, it’s enough to make one kick the bucket here,” said Fauchery to his cousin when he had made good his escape from the circle of ladies. “We’ll hook it!”
“你说得对，在这里真是让人难以忍受，”福谢里对他的表兄说完以后，成功地从女士们的圈子中逃离了。“我们走吧！”

But Steiner, deserted at last by the Count Muffat and the deputy, came up in a fury. —
但斯坦纳最后被莫法特伯爵和副市长抛弃后，气得发狂。 —

Drops of perspiration stood on his forehead, and he grumbled huskily:
他的额头上沁出了汗珠，他嘶哑地抱怨道。

“Gad! Let ‘em tell me nothing, if nothing they want to tell me. I shall find people who will talk.”
“天啊！让他们什么都不要告诉我，如果他们什么都不想告诉我的话。我会找到愿意说话的人。”

Then he pushed the journalist into a corner and, altering his tone, said in accents of victory:
然后，他把记者推到了一个角落里，改变了语调，胜利地说道：

“It’s tomorrow, eh? I’m of the party, my bully!”
“明天吧？我是一个党派的人，我的好友！”

“Indeed!” muttered Fauchery with some astonishment.
“真的吗！”福谢里惊讶地嘀咕着。

“You didn’t know about it. Oh, I had lots of bother to find her at home. —
“你不知道这件事。哦，为了找到她在家里真是费了一番功夫。 —

Besides, Mignon never would leave me alone.”
此外，米尼翁从来都不会让我一个人呆着。”

“But they’re to be there, are the Mignons.”
“但是米尼翁他们会来的，对吗？”

“Yes, she told me so. In fact, she did receive my visit, and she invited me. —
“是的，她告诉我她们会来。事实上，她确实接待了我，并邀请我。 —

Midnight punctually, after the play.”
出戏后准时的午夜。”

The banker was beaming. He winked and added with a peculiar emphasis on the words:
银行家笑容满面。他眨了眨眼，随后重点强调地补充道:

“You’ve worked it, eh?”
“你已经策划好了，对吗？”

“Eh, what?” said Fauchery, pretending not to understand him. —
“嗯，什么？”福谢里假装不理解他的话。 —

“She wanted to thank me for my article, so she came and called on me.”
“她想要感谢我写的那篇文章，所以她来找我拜访了。”

“Yes, yes. You fellows are fortunate. You get rewarded. By the by, who pays the piper tomorrow?”
“是的，是的。你们这些家伙真幸运。你们得到奖赏。顺便问一下，明天是谁埋单？”

The journalist made a slight outward movement with his arms, as though he would intimate that no one had ever been able to find out. —
这位记者微微伸出手臂，仿佛在暗示没人能找出真相。 —

But Vandeuvres called to Steiner, who knew M. de Bismarck. —
但范德芙尔斯叫住了斯泰纳，他认识毕马威克先生。 —

Mme du Joncquoy had almost convinced herself of the truth of her suppositions; —
朱容昆夫人几乎相信自己推测的真实性； —

she concluded with these words:
她以这样的话作出总结：

“He gave me an unpleasant impression. I think his face is evil. —
“他给了我一种不愉快的印象。我觉得他的脸上有邪恶之气。 —

But I am quite willing to believe that he has a deal of wit. —
但我很愿意相信他很聪明。 —

It would account for his successes.”
这能解释他的成功。”

“Without doubt,” said the banker with a faint smile. He was a Jew from Frankfort.
“毫无疑问，”银行家微微一笑。他是来自法兰克福的犹太人。

Meanwhile La Faloise at last made bold to question his cousin. —
此时，拉法洛斯终于鼓起勇气询问他的表哥。 —

He followed him up and got inside his guard:
他追着他问，并设法攻破他的防线：

“There’s supper at a woman’s tomorrow evening? With which of them, eh? With which of them?”
“明天晚上要和一个女人共进晚餐？和哪个女人呢？和哪个女人呢？”

Fauchery motioned to him that they were overheard and must respect the conventions here. —
罗谢里向他示意他们被听到了，必须在这里遵守惯例。 —

The door had just been opened anew, and an old lady had come in, followed by a young man in whom the journalist recognized the truant schoolboy, perpetrator of the famous and as yet unforgotten “tres chic” of the Blonde Venus first night. —
门刚刚重新打开，一位老太太走了进来，后面跟着一个年轻人，记者认出了这个学校的旷课学生，也就是那个著名而至今未被原谅的“金发维纳斯”首映中的那位时髦男子。 —

This lady’s arrival caused a stir among the company. —
这位女士的到来引起了在场人的骚动。 —

The Countess Sabine had risen briskly from her seat in order to go and greet her, and she had taken both her hands in hers and addressed her as her “dear Madame Hugon.” Seeing that his cousin viewed this little episode with some curiosity, La Faloise sought to arouse his interest and in a few brief phrases explained the position. —
萨宾女伯爵迅速从座位上站起来去迎接她，握住她的双手称呼她为“亲爱的雨果夫人”。看到他的表兄对这个小插曲有些好奇，拉法莱兹试图引起他的兴趣，并用几句简短的话解释了情况。 —

Mme Hugon, widow of a notary, lived in retirement at Les Fondettes, an old estate of her family’s in the neighborhood of Orleans, but she also kept up a small establishment in Paris in a house belonging to her in the Rue de Richelieu and was now passing some weeks there in order to settle her youngest son, who was reading the law and in his “first year.” —
女士雨果夫人是一位公证人的寡妇，在奥尔良附近的她家族的一处古老庄园里过着隐居生活，但她也在巴黎保持着一个小型住所，位于她在里夏吕街拥有的房子里，现在她在那里度过几个星期，安顿她最年轻的儿子，他正在学习法律，是“第一年级”。 —

In old times she had been a dear friend of the Marquise de Chouard and had assisted at the birth of the countess, who, prior to her marriage, used to stay at her house for months at a time and even now was quite familiarly treated by her.
过去她是乔尔德侯爵夫人的一位亲密朋友，并且曾在伯爵夫人出生时亲自照料她。婚前，伯爵夫人经常在她家住上数月，即使现在对她也十分熟悉。

“I have brought Georges to see you,” said Mme Hugon to Sabine. “He’s grown, I trust.”
“我带乔治来看你了，”休贡夫人对萨宾说道。”他已经长大了，我相信你会喜欢的。”

The young man with his clear eyes and the fair curls which suggested a girl dressed up as a boy bowed easily to the countess and reminded her of a bout of battledore and shuttlecock they had had together two years ago at Les Fondettes.
这位年轻人的明亮眼眸和金色的卷发让人觉得他像个打扮成男子的女孩子，他轻松地向伯爵夫人鞠躬，并提醒她两年前他们一起在勒蓬德公园打羽毛球的情景。

“Philippe is not in Paris?” asked Count Muffat.
“菲利普不在巴黎吗？”穆法伯爵问道。

“Dear me, no!” replied the old lady. “He is always in garrison at Bourges.” —
“天哪，不在！”老太太回答道。”他一直在布尔热驻扎。” —

She had seated herself and began talking with considerable pride of her eldest son, a great big fellow who, after enlisting in a fit of waywardness, had of late very rapidly attained the rank of lieutenant. —
她坐下来，骄傲地谈起她的大儿子，一个高大的家伙，在一时冲动下参军，最近迅速晋升为中尉。 —

All the ladies behaved to her with respectful sympathy, and conversation was resumed in a tone at once more amiable and more refined. —
所有的女士都以尊重和同情的态度对待她，交谈的语气变得更加友好和优雅。 —

Fauchery, at sight of that respectable Mme Hugon, that motherly face lit up with such a kindly smile beneath its broad tresses of white hair, thought how foolish he had been to suspect the Countess Sabine even for an instant.
福舍里看到了那个受人尊敬的雨贡夫人，那张母亲般的脸底下洋溢着一抹和蔼可亲的微笑，他觉得自己曾经怀疑萨宾女士实在是太愚蠢了。

Nevertheless, the big chair with the red silk upholsteries in which the countess sat had attracted his attention. —
然而，那位伯爵夫人坐在的红丝绒装饰的大椅子引起了他的注意。 —

Its style struck him as crude, not to say fantastically suggestive, in that dim old drawing room. —
他觉得它的风格很粗糙，甚至可以说在那个昏暗的老式客厅里显得奇异而暧昧。 —

Certainly it was not the count who had inveigled thither that nest of voluptuous idleness. —
毫无疑问，不是伯爵引诱进来了这个纵欲懒散的巢穴。 —

One might have described it as an experiment, marking the birth of an appetite and of an enjoyment. —
可以说它是一种实验，标志着一种欲望和享受的诞生。 —

Then he forgot where he was, fell into brown study and in thought even harked back to that vague confidential announcement imparted to him one evening in the dining room of a restaurant. —
然后他忘记了自己在哪里，陷入了沉思，甚至回想起那个在餐厅的晚上向他透露的含糊不清的消息。 —

Impelled by a sort of sensuous curiosity, he had always wanted an introduction into the Muffats’ circle, and now that his friend was in Mexico through all eternity, who could tell what might happen? —
受一种感官好奇的驱使，他一直渴望介入马法的圈子，现在他的朋友永远在墨西哥了，谁知道会发生什么呢？ —

“We shall see,” he thought. It was a folly, doubtless, but the idea kept tormenting him; —
“我们拭目以待吧，”他想。“这肯定是个愚蠢的想法，但是这个想法一直纠缠着他。” —

he felt himself drawn on and his animal nature aroused. —
他感到自己被吸引了，他的动物本性被唤起了。 —

The big chair had a rumpled look–its nether cushions had been tumbled, a fact which now amused him.
那把大椅子看起来凌乱不堪-底部的垫子被乱丢了，这个事实现在让他觉得好笑。

“Well, shall we be off?” asked La Faloise, mentally vowing that once outside he would find out the name of the woman with whom people were going to sup.
“好了，我们准备好了吗？”拉法洛瓦兹问道，心里发誓一旦出门就会找到人们要和谁共进晚餐。

“All in good time,” replied Fauchery.
“一切顺其自然，”福歇里回答道。

But he was no longer in any hurry and excused himself on the score of the invitation he had been commissioned to give and had as yet not found a convenient opportunity to mention. —
但是他不再急于行动，以他被委托传达的邀请为借口，他还没有找到一个方便的机会提到。 —

The ladies were chatting about an assumption of the veil, a very touching ceremony by which the whole of Parisian society had for the last three days been greatly moved. —
女士们正在聊天，谈论着一次放弃尘世的仪式，这个仪式让整个巴黎社会在过去三天里深受感动。 —

It was the eldest daughter of the Baronne de Fougeray, who, under stress of an irresistible vocation, had just entered the Carmelite Convent. —
这是福杰尔巴龙女士的长女，在不可抵挡的召唤下，刚刚进入了加尔默罗会修道院。 —

Mme Chantereau, a distant cousin of the Fougerays, told how the baroness had been obliged to take to her bed the day after the ceremony, so overdone was she with weeping.
福杰雷上女士是福杰雷家族的远房表亲，她说巴龙女士在仪式之后的一天不得不卧床休息，因为她悲伤过度。

“I had a very good place,” declared Leonide. “I found it interesting.”
“我找到了一个非常好的位置，”蕾奥尼德说。”我觉得很有趣。”

Nevertheless, Mme Hugon pitied the poor mother. How sad to lose a daughter in such a way!
然而，雨贡夫人对这位可怜的母亲表示同情。失去一个女儿的方式太悲哀了！

“I am accused of being overreligious,” she said in her quiet, frank manner, “but that does not prevent me thinking the children very cruel who obstinately commit such suicide.”
“我被指责喜欢过于虔诚，”她以平静、坦率的方式说道，”但这并不妨碍我认为那些执意自杀的孩子非常残忍。”

“Yes, it’s a terrible thing,” murmured the countess, shivering a little, as became a chilly person, and huddling herself anew in the depths of her big chair in front of the fire.
“是的，这是一件可怕的事情，”伯爵夫人低声说道，她总是感到寒冷，重新蜷缩在火炉前的大椅子深处。

Then the ladies fell into a discussion. But their voices were discreetly attuned, while light trills of laughter now and again interrupted the gravity of their talk. —
然后女士们开始讨论。但她们的声音都非常谨慎，而轻快的笑声不时打破了她们严肃谈话的氛围。 —

The two lamps on the chimney piece, which had shades of rose-colored lace, cast a feeble light over them while on scattered pieces of furniture there burned but three other lamps, so that the great drawing room remained in soft shadow.
烟囱上的两盏灯具，上面有玫瑰色蕾丝的灯罩，为他们洒落一道微弱的光线，而散在家具上的其他三只灯只亮着，因此整个大客厅都笼罩在柔和的阴影中。

Steiner was getting bored. He was describing to Fauchery an escapade of that little Mme de Chezelles, whom he simply referred to as Leonide. —
斯坦纳开始感到厌倦了。他正在给福舍里描述一个小姐德什莱尔的逃遁事件，他只是简称她为莱昂妮德。 —

“A blackguard woman,” he said, lowering his voice behind the ladies’ armchairs. —
“一个恶棍女人，”他在女士们的扶手椅后降低声音说。 —

Fauchery looked at her as she sat quaintly perched, in her voluminous ball dress of pale blue satin, on the corner of her armchair. —
福舍里看着她，她端坐在她那宽大的淡蓝色绸缎舞会礼服的扶手椅角落。 —

She looked as slight and impudent as a boy, and he ended by feeling astonished at seeing her there. —
她看起来像个瘦小而傲慢的男孩，他最后感到惊讶地看到她在那里。 —

People comported themselves better at Caroline Hequet’s, whose mother had arranged her house on serious principles. —
人们在卡洛琳·埃凯的家里表现得更好，她的母亲以严肃的原则布置了她的家。 —

Here was a perfect subject for an article. Whuat a strange world was this world of Paris! —
这是一篇完美的文章素材。巴黎这个世界真是一个奇怪的世界！ —

The most rigid circles found themselves invaded. —
最严苛的社交圈子也受到了侵扰。 —

Evidently that silent Theophile Venot, who contented himself by smiling and showing his ugly teeth, must have been a legacy from the late countess. —
显然，那个沉默寡言的西奥菲尔·维诺特，只会微笑并露出他那难看的牙齿，一定是那位已故伯爵夫人的传承。 —

So, too, must have been such ladies of mature age as Mme Chantereau and Mme du Joncquoy, besides four or five old gentlemen who sat motionless in corners. —
同样的还有那些年纪较大的夫人，比如香特罗夫人和让柯依夫人，还有四、五个静静坐在角落里的老绅士。 —

The Count Muffat attracted to the house a series of functionaries, distinguished by the immaculate personal appearance which was at that time required of the men at the Tuileries. —
默夫先生吸引了一系列官员来这个屋子，这些官员都以当时在图伊勒利宫所要求的一身整洁外观著称。 —

Among others there was the chief clerk,who still sat solitary in the middle of the room with his closely shorn cheeks, his vacant glance and his coat so tight of fit that he could scarce venture to move. —
其中就有那个首席办事员，他仍然孤零零地坐在房间中央，他剃得滑溜的脸颊，无神的眼光，还有那件太紧身的外套，他几乎没敢动。 —

Almost all the young men and certain individuals with distinguished, aristocratic manners were the Marquis de Chouard’s contribution to the circle, he having kept touch with the Legitimist party after making his peace with the empire on his entrance into the Council of State. There remained Leonide de Chezelles and Steiner, an ugly little knot against which Mme Hugon’s elderly and amiable serenity stood out in strange contrast. —
几乎所有年轻男子和某些具有显赫的贵族风度的个体都是修阿尔德侯爵对这个圈子的贡献，他在进入国务委员会后与正统党保持着联系，并与帝国和解。在这个圈子里还有勒奥妮德·德·谢泽尔和斯泰纳，他们是一个丑陋的小团体，与雨贡夫人的老年友善形成了奇特的对比。 —

And Fauchery, having sketched out his article, named this last group “Countess Sabine’s little clique.”
法谢里勾勒出这个小团体后，将他们命名为“萨宾伯爵夫人的小圈子”。

“On another occasion,” continued Steiner in still lower tones, “Leonide got her tenor down to Montauban. —
“另一次,” 斯泰纳仍然声音更低地说道，”勒奥妮德让她的乐队去了蒙托邦。 —

She was living in the Chateau de Beaurecueil, two leagues farther off, and she used to come in daily in a carriage and pair in order to visit him at the Lion d’Or, where he had put up. —
她住在比勒吕克城堡，再往前两条英里，她每天乘坐一辆双马车来这里探望他住在狮子旅馆的男高音。 —

The carriage used to wait at the door, and Leonide would stay for hours in the house, while a crowd gathered round and looked at the horses.”
车子会停在门口等待，而勒奥妮德会在里面停留数小时，期间围观群众会看着车马。

There was a pause in the talk, and some solemn moments passed silently by in the lofty room. —
谈话中出现了停顿，高高的房间中静静地度过了一些庄严的时刻。 —

Two young men were whispering, but they ceased in their turn, and the hushed step of Count Muffat was alone audible as he crossed the floor. —
两个年轻人在耳语，但他们也停止了，只有Muffat伯爵脚步声穿过地板时可以清晰地听到。 —

The lamps seemed to have paled; the fire was going out; —
灯光似乎变得暗淡，火渐渐熄灭； —

a stern shadow fell athwart the old friends of the house where they sat in the chairs they had occupied there for forty years back. —
一个严厉的阴影笼罩着这个房屋里的老友们，他们坐在他们在这里坐了四十年的椅子上。 —

It was as though in a momentary pause of conversation the invited guests had become suddenly aware that the count’s mother, in all her glacial stateliness, had returned among them.
仿佛在谈话的短暂停顿中，受邀的客人们突然意识到伯爵的母亲，她那冰冷的高贵又回到了他们中间。

But the Countess Sabine had once more resumed:
但Sabine伯爵夫人再次说：

“Well, at last the news of it got about. The young man was likely to die, and that would explain the poor child’s adoption of the religious life. —
“好了，终于有关于此事的消息传出来了。那个年轻人可能会死，这可以解释为什么这个可怜的孩子选择了宗教生活。 —

Besides, they say that Monsieur de Fougeray wold never have given his consent to the marriage.”
此外，他们说Fougeray先生从不会同意这个婚姻。”

“They say heaps of other things too,” cried Leonide giddily.
“他们还说了很多其他的事情，”Leonide兴奋地喊道。

She fell a-laughing; she refused to talk. —
她笑得跌倒在地，她不想说话。 —

Sabine was won over by this gaiety and put her handkerchief up to her lips. —
萨比娜被这份快乐所感染，她捂住嘴巴用手绢。 —

And in the vast and solemn room their laughter sounded a note which struck Fauchery strangely,the note of delicate glass breaking. —
在这宽广而庄严的房间里，他们的笑声散发出一种奇怪的音符，就像是脆弱的玻璃被打破的声音，让福谢里感到不可思议。 —

Assuredly here was the first beginning of the “little rift.” Everyone began talking again. —
毫无疑问，这是“小裂缝”的开始。大家又开始讨论起来。 —

Mme du Joncquoy demurred; Mme Chantereau knew for certain that a marriage had been projected but that matters had gone no further; —
黛·容克瓦犹豫了一下，而黛·尚托罗知道确实有一个婚姻打算，但是没有进一步发展； —

the men even ventured to give their opinions. —
甚至男人们也敢表达自己的观点。 —

For some minutes the conversation was a babel of opinions, in which the divers elements of the circle, whether Bonapartist or Legitimist or merely worldly and skeptical, appeared to jostle one another simultaneously. —
几分钟间，谈话变成了一片杂音，圈子中的各个成员，不论是波拿巴派还是合法派，亦或者只是世俗和怀疑主义者，似乎同时挤在一起。 —

Estelle had rung to order wood to be put on the fire; the footman turned up the lamps; —
埃斯特尔把铃铛按响要求添柴，侍者调亮了灯； —

the room seemed to wake from sleep. Fauchery began smiling, as though once more at his ease.
房间里似乎从沉睡中醒来。福谢里开始微笑，仿佛又一次感到舒适自在。

“Egad, they become the brides of God when they couldn’t be their cousin’s,” said Vandeuvres between his teeth.
“天哪，当她们不能成为自己堂兄弟的新娘时，她们就成为了上帝的新娘，”范德维尔斯嘟囔着说。

The subject bored him, and he had rejoined Fauchery.
这个话题让他感到厌烦，他重新加入了福谢里的谈话。

“My dear fellow, have you ever seen a woman who was really loved become a nun?”
“亲爱的朋友，你有没有见过一个真正被爱的女人变成修女？”

He did not wait for an answer, for he had had enough of the topic, and in a hushed voice:
他没有等待答案，因为他已经对这个话题厌倦了，他用低声说道：

“Tell me,” he said, “how many of us will there be tomorrow? —
“告诉我，明天我们会有多少人在场？ —

There’ll be the Mignons, Steiner, yourself, Blanche and I; who else?”
会有米尼翁、斯坦纳、你、布兰奇和我；还有谁？”

“Caroline, I believe, and Simonne and Gaga without doubt. One never knows exactly, does one? —
“卡罗琳，我相信，还有西蒙娜和嘎嘎肯定会来。永远没人确切知道，不是吗？ —

On such occasions one expects the party will number twenty, and you’re really thirty.”
在这种场合，我们预计会有20个人，实际上有30个。”

Vandeuvres, who was looking at the ladies, passed abruptly to another subject:
范德维尔斯看着女士们，突然转到了另一个话题上：

“She must have been very nice-looking, that Du Joncquoy woman, some fifteen years ago. —
“那个杜让昆女人十五年前肯定很漂亮。 —

Poor Estelle has grown lankier than ever. —
可怜的艾丝泰尔变得比以前更苗条了。 —

What a nice lath to put into a bed!”
把她放到床上，真是根好椅子！”

But interrupting himself, he returned to the subject of tomorrow’s supper.
但他又打断自己，回到了明天晚宴的话题上。

“What’s so tiresome of those shows is that it’s always the same set of women. One wants a novelty. —
“这些节目令人疲惫不堪的地方在于总是出现同一批女人。一个想要新奇的东西。 —

Do try and invent a new girl. By Jove, happy thought! —
试着发明一个新的女孩吧。天哪，这个主意不错！ —

I’ll go and beseech that stout man to bring the woman he was trotting about the other evening at the Varietes.”
我将去恳求那个肥胖的男人带来他前几天在歌剧院里溜达的女人。”

He referred to the chief clerk, sound asleep in the middle of the drawing room. —
他指的是那个还在客厅中央熟睡的首席办事员。 —

Fauchery, afar off, amused himself by following this delicate negotiation. —
远远地，福谢里愉快地跟踪着这次微妙的交涉。 —

Vandeuvres had sat himself down by the stout man, who still looked very sedate. —
温德夫人已经坐在那个肥胖的男人旁边，这个男人看起来还是非常拘谨。 —

For some moments they both appeared to be discussing with much propriety the question before the house, which was, “How can one discover the exact state of feeling that urges a young girl to enter into the religious life?” —
有一段时间，他们似乎都在非常得体地讨论着眼前的问题，那个问题是，“一个年轻女孩进入宗教生活是因为什么样的情感驱使？” —

Then the count returned with the remark:
然后伯爵回来说：

“It’s impossible. He swears she’s straight. —
“不可能。他发誓她是正直的。 —

She’d refuse, and yet I would have wagered that I once saw her at Laure’s.”
她会拒绝的，然而我敢打赌我曾经在劳雷那里见过她。”

“Eh, what? You go to Laure’s?” murmured Fauchery with a chuckle. —
“啊，什么？你去劳雷那里？”福谢里咯咯地笑道。 —

“You venture your reputation in places like that? —
“你愿意把你的声誉冒险放在那样的地方吗？” —

I was under the impression that it was only we poor devils of outsiders who–”
“我原以为只有我们这些可怜的外来者才会这样——”

“Ah, dear boy, one ought to see every side of life.”
“啊，亲爱的孩子，一个人应该看到生活的各个方面。”

Then they sneered and with sparkling eyes they compared notes about the table d’hote in the Rue des Martyrs, where big Laure Piedefer ran a dinner at three francs a head for little women in difficulties. —
然后他们嘲笑起来，眼中闪烁着光芒，他们谈论着在 Rue des Martyrs 的餐桌宴会，那里的大罗丽·皮德费尔以三法郎一位为困境中的小女人设了一顿饭。 —

A nice hole, where all the little women used to kiss Laure on the lips! —
一个不错的地方，那里的所有小女人都想亲吻罗丽。 —

And as the Countess Sabine, who had overheard a stray word or two, turned toward them, they started back, rubbing shoulders in excited merriment. —
正当女伯爵萨宾听到了一两个零散的词语时，他们转过身去，激动地肩并肩地退后。 —

They had not noticed that Georges Hugon was close by and that he was listening to them, blushing so hotly the while that a rosy flush had spread from his ears to his girlish throat. —
他们没有注意到乔治·休贡就在旁边，而且他正在倾听他们的谈话，此时他脸红得厉害，一片玫瑰色的润色从他的耳朵延伸到了他娇嫩的脖子。 —

The infant was full of shame and of ecstasy. —
这个孩子既感到羞耻又感到狂喜。 —

From the moment his mother had turned him loose in the room he had been hovering in the wake of Mme de Chezelles, the only woman present who struck him as being the thing. —
从他妈妈把他放在房间里后的那一刻起，他就一直在Mme de Chezelles身后盘旋，觉得她是个了不起的女人。 —

But after all is said and done, Nana licked her to fits!
但不管怎么说，娜娜把她舔得欢乐无比！

“Yesterday evening,” Mme Hugon was saying, “Georges took me to the play. —
“昨晚，乔治带我去看戏。”Mme Hugon说。 —

Yes, we went to the Varietes, where I certainly had not set foot for the last ten years. —
是的，我们去了Varietes戏院，那可是我在过去十年里再也没有踏足过的地方。 —

That child adores music. As to me, I wasn’t in the least amused, but he was so happy! —
那孩子非常喜欢音乐。至于我，我一点也不觉得好笑，但他非常开心！ —

They put extraordinary pieces on the stage nowadays. —
现在舞台上上演的戏码格外特别。 —

Besides, music delights me very little, I confess.”
此外，我承认，音乐对我来说几乎没有什么吸引力。

“What! You don’t love music, madame?” cried Mme du Joncquoy, lifting her eyes to heaven. “Is it possible there should be people who don’t love music?”
“什么！您不喜欢音乐，夫人？”Mme du Joncquoy惊讶地说着，向天空抬起眼睛。“难以置信居然有人不喜欢音乐？”

The exclamation of surprise was general. No one had dropped a single word concerning the performance at the Varietes, at which the good Mme Hugon had not understood any of the allusions. —
大家都惊讶地发出了感叹声。没人提到Varietes的演出，好心的Mme Hugon没有听懂其中任何典故。 —

The ladies knew the piece but said nothing about it, and with that they plunged into the realm of sentiment and began discussing the masters in a tone of refined and ecstatical admiration. —
女士们知道这首曲子，但对此保持沉默，随后她们陷入了感性的境界，并开始以一种高雅而狂喜的口吻讨论大师们。 —

Mme du Joncquoy was not fond of any of them save Weber, while Mme Chantereau stood up for the Italians. —
除了韦伯，邓庞昂夫人对其他作曲家都不感兴趣，而尚特罗夫人则站在意大利作曲家一边。 —

The ladies’ voices had turned soft and languishing, and in front of the hearth one might have fancied one’s self listening in meditative, religious retirement to the faint, discreet music of a little chapel.
女士们的声音变得温柔而倦怠，在壁炉前，人们仿佛置身于一座静谧的小教堂，倾听着微弱而悦耳的音乐。

“Now let’s see,” murmured Vandeuvres, bringing Fauchery back into the middle of the drawing room, “notwithstanding it all, we must invent a woman for tomorrow. —
“现在让我们看看，”范多夫尔喃喃自语着，把福升瑞带回了客厅中间，”尽管如此，我们明天必须为他找一个女人。 —

Shall we ask Steiner about it?”
我们要问问斯泰纳吗？”

“Oh, when Steiner’s got hold of a woman,” said the journalist, “it’s because Paris has done with her.”
“哦，当斯泰纳追求一个女人的时候，”记者说道，”那是因为巴黎已经玩腻了她。”

Vandeuvres, however, was searching about on every side.
不过，范多夫尔四处寻找。

“Wait a bit,” he continued, “the other day I met Foucarmont with a charming blonde. —
“稍等片刻，”他接着说道，”前几天我遇到了福卡蒙，他带着一个迷人的金发女郎。 —

I’ll go and tell him to bring her.”
我会去告诉他带她过来的。”

And he called to Foucarmont. They exchanged a few words rapidly. —
他给福卡尔蒙打了个电话。他们迅速交换了几句话。 —

There must have been some sort of complication, for both of them, moving carefully forward and stepping over the dresses of the ladies, went off in quest of another young man with whom they continued the discussion in the embrasure of a window. —
显然出现了一些问题，所以他们两个小心翼翼地向前走，小心地踩过女士们的裙摆，去找另外一个年轻人，他们在窗户的凹处继续讨论。 —

Fauchery was left to himself and had just decided to proceed to the hearth, where Mme du Joncquoy was announcing that she never heard Weber played without at the same time seeing lakes, forests and sunrises over landscapes steeped in dew, when a hand touched his shoulder and a voice behind him remarked:” —
福蒂里被自己一个人丢下了，他刚要走向壁炉，杜尚克瓦夫人宣称只要听到韦伯的音乐，她就能同时看到湖泊、森林和沐浴在露水中的日出，就在这时，有人的手轻轻碰了他的肩膀，身后的声音说： —

It’s not civil of you.”
“你这样子可不礼貌。”

“What d’you mean?” he asked, turning round and recognizing La Faloise.
“你是什么意思？”他转过身来，认出了拉法瓦。

“Why, about that supper tomorrow. You might easily have got me invited.”
“嗯，关于明天的晚宴，你完全可以帮我争取到邀请。”

Fauchery was at length about to state his reasons when Vandeuvres came back to tell him:” —
福蒂里正要解释理由，范多弗回来告诉他： —

It appears it isn’t a girl of Foucarmont’s. It’s that man’s flame out there. —
“似乎不是福卡尔蒙的女孩。那是外面那个男人心仪的人。” —

She won’t be able to come. What a piece of bad luck! —
她不能来，真是个倒霉的事情！ —

But all the same I’ve pressed Foucarmont into the service, and he’s going to try to get Louise from the Palais-Royal.”
但是我已经让Foucarmont帮忙，他会试图从皇家宫殿把Louise带走。

“Is it not true, Monsieur de Vandeuvres,” asked Mme Chantereau, raising her voice, “that Wagner’s music was hissed last Sunday?”
“范德维尔先生，是不是真的，瓦格纳的音乐上星期日被嘘了？”夏特诺夫人提高声音问道。

“Oh, frightfully, madame,” he made answer, coming forward with his usual exquisite politeness.
“是的，夫人，非常可怕，”他恭敬地回答道，以他一贯的精致礼貌。

Then, as they did not detain him, he moved off and continued whispering in the journalist’s ear:” —
然后，由于他们没有留他下来，他走开了，继续在记者的耳边低声说话： —

I’m going to press some more of them. These young fellows must know some little ladies.”
我还打算再找一些人。这些年轻人必须认识一些小女孩。

With that he was observed to accost men and to engage them in conversation in his usual amiable and smiling way in every corner of the drawing room. —
就在那时，人们观察到他在客厅的每个角落都去搭讪人，以他一贯友善和微笑的方式与他们交谈。 —

He mixed with the various groups, said something confidently to everyone and walked away again with a sly wink and a secret signal or two. —
他与各个群体混在一起，对每个人自信地说了一些话，然后又带着眨眼和秘密信号走开。 —

It looked as though he were giving out a watchword in that easy way of his. The news went round; —
看起来他正在以他熟悉的轻松方式传达暗号。这个消息传开了； —

the place of meeting was announced, while the ladies’ sentimental dissertations on music served to conceal the small, feverish rumor of these recruiting operations.
会议地点已经宣布，而女士们对音乐的感情论文则隐藏了这些招募行动的小小动向。

“No, do not speak of your Germans,” Mme Chantereau was saying. “Song is gaiety; —
“不要谈论你的德国人，”香特罗夫人说道。“歌曲是快乐的；歌曲是轻快的。你听过帕蒂在《塞维利亚的理发师》中的演唱吗？” —

song is light. Have you heard Patti in the Barber of Seville?”
“她唱得太美了！”雷奥妮德低声说道，她在钢琴上弹奏的只有歌剧唱段。

“She was delicious!” murmured Leonide, who strummed none but operatic airs on her piano.
与此同时，萨宾伯爵夫人按响了铃铛。当周二的访客数量很少时，茶会就在客厅里举行。

Meanwhile the Countess Sabine had rung. When on Tuesdays the number of visitors was small, tea was handed round the drawing room itself. —
当众多的来访者离开后，伯爵夫人也自己品茶。她吩咐一个仆人清理圆桌，目送着范德沃尔伯爵。 —

While directing a footman to clear a round table the countess followed the Count de Vandeuvres with her eyes. —
伯爵夫人依然带着含糊的微笑，稍稍露出她洁白的牙齿，当伯爵走过时，她向他提问。 —

She still smiled that vague smile which slightly disclosed her white teeth, and as the count passed she questioned him.
“范德沃尔伯爵，你在策划什么？”

“What ARE you plotting, Monsieur de Vandeuvres?”
“我在策划什么，夫人？”他平静地回答。“什么也没有。”

“What am I plotting, madame?” he answered quietly. “Nothing at all.”
“真的吗！我看到你很忙。请等一等，你可以帮上忙！”

“Really! I saw you so busy. Pray, wait, you shall make yourself useful!”
“宏图大展！”萨宾伯爵夫人在心中想道，同时回到了大厅。

She placed an album in his hands and asked him to put it on the piano. —
她将一张专辑放在他手里，让他把它放在钢琴上。 —

But he found means to inform Fauchery in a low whisper that they would have Tatan Nene, the most finely developed girl that winter, and Maria Blond, the same who had just made her first appearance at the Folies-Dramatiques. —
但他以低声告诉福谢里，他们将带上这个冬季最出色的女孩塔坦娜娜，以及刚刚在法莱底芭莎剧院首次亮相的玛丽亚布朗。 —

Meanwhile La Faloise stopped him at every step in hopes of receiving an invitation. —
与此同时，拉法洛瓦兹不停地找他，希望得到一个邀请。 —

He ended by offering himself, and Vandeuvres engaged him in the plot at once; —
他最后自己提出要参加，万德维尔斯立刻答应了他； —

only he made him promise to bring Clarisse with him, and when La Faloise pretended to scruple about certain points he quieted him by the remark:” —
只是他要求他带上克拉丽丝，当拉法洛瓦兹假装对某些事情有疑虑时，他用这样的话安抚他：“既然我邀请了你，就足够了！” —

Since I invite you that’s enough!”
不过，拉法洛瓦兹很想知道女主人的名字。

Nevertheless, La Faloise would have much liked to know the name of the hostess. —
但是伯爵夫人召回了万德维尔斯，并询问他英国人如何制作茶。 —

But the countess had recalled Vandeuvres and was questioning him as to the manner in which the English made tea. —
他经常去英国，他的马在那里比赛。 —

He often betook himself to England, where his horses ran. —
他经常去英国，在那里他的马参加比赛。 —

Then as though he had been inwardly following up quite a laborious train of thought during his remarks, he broke in with the question:” —
然后好像他在讲话过程中一直在内心努力跟进一个费力的思路，他接着问道：” —

And the marquis, by the by? Are we not to see him?”
那个侯爵，顺便问一下，我们能见到他吗？”

“Oh, certainly you will! My father made me a formal promise that he would come,” replied the countess. —
“哦，当然能见到！我父亲对我做了正式的承诺，他会来的，”伯爵夫人回答道。 —

“But I’m beginning to be anxious. His duties will have kept him.”
“但我开始有点担心了，他的工作可能会让他耽搁。”

Vandeuvres smiled a discreet smile. He, too, seemed to have his doubts as to the exact nature of the Marquis de Chouard’s duties. —
文杜夫笑了一个谨慎的笑容。他也对Chouard侯爵的职责的确切性质抱有疑虑。 —

Indeed, he had been thinking of a pretty woman whom the marquis occasionally took into the country with him. —
实际上，他在想起Marquis de Chouard偶尔会带着一位漂亮的女人前往乡间。 —

Perhaps they could get her too.
也许他们也可以把她带来。

In the meantime Fauchery decided that the moment had come in which to risk giving Count Muff his invitation. —
与此同时，福谢里决定现在是冒险给Muff伯爵发出邀请的时刻。 —

The evening, in fact, was drawing to a close.
事实上，晚上已经快结束了。

“Are you serious?” asked Vandeuvres, who thought a joke was intended.
“你是认真的吗？”文杜夫问道，他认为是在开玩笑。

“Extremely serious. If I don’t execute my commission she’ll tear my eyes out. —
“非常认真。如果我没有执行我的任务，她会揪我的眼睛出来的。 —

It’s a case of landing her fish, you know.”
这是个捉住她的大鱼的事情，你知道的。”

“Well then, I’ll help you, dear boy.”
“那么，我会帮助你，亲爱的孩子。”

Eleven o’clock struck. Assisted by her daughter, the countess was pouring out the tea, and as hardly any guests save intimate friends had come, the cups and the platefuls of little cakes were being circulated without ceremony. —
钟声敲响了十一点。伴着女儿的帮助，女伯爵倒着茶，因为除了亲密的朋友以外几乎没有客人来，杯子和盘子上的小蛋糕在不经意间被传递着。 —

Even the ladies did not leave their armchairs in front of the fire and sat sipping their tea and nibbling cakes which they held between their finger tips. —
就连女士们也没有离开他们坐在火炉前的扶手椅，一边啜饮着茶水，一边用手指夹着蛋糕。 —

From music the talk had declined to purveyors. —
话题从音乐转向了食品供应商。 —

Boissier was the only person for sweetmeats and Catherine for ices. —
大家都认为Boissier是蜜饯的最佳选择，而Catherine则是冰淇淋的专家。 —

Mme Chantereau, however, was all for Latinville. —
然而，Mme Chantereau却坚持拉丁维尔。 —

Speech grew more and more indolent, and a sense of lassitude was lulling the room to sleep. —
言谈渐渐变得慵懒起来，一种倦怠感使整个房间陷入了睡意。 —

Steiner had once more set himself secretly to undermine the deputy, whom he held in a state of blockade in the corner of a settee. —
Steiner再次秘密地破坏那位被他困住在沙发角落里的副议员。 —

M. Venot, whose teeth must have been ruined by sweet things, was eating little dry cakes, one after the other, with a small nibbling sound suggestive of a mouse, while the chief clerk, his nose in a teacup, seemed never to be going to finish its contents. —
马武诺特的牙齿肯定被甜食毁坏了，他一边吃着小干糕点，一边发出像老鼠一样的轻咬声，而首席办事员则把鼻子埋在茶杯里，似乎永远喝不完里面的内容。 —

As to the countess, she went in a leisurely way from one guest to another, never pressing them, indeed, only pausing a second or two before the gentlemen whom she viewed with an air of dumb interrogation before she smiled and passed on. —
至于伯爵夫人，她悠闲地走进一位又一位客人之间，从不催促他们，事实上，她只在那些她以沉默的疑问眼神看待的绅士们面前停留一两秒钟，然后微笑着继续前行。 —

The great fire had flushed all her face, and she looked as if she were the sister of her daughter, who appeared so withered and ungainly at her side. —
大火使她的整张脸都红扑扑的，她看起来就像是她女儿的姐姐，而她女儿则显得干瘪而难看。 —

When she drew near Fauchery, who was chatting with her husband and Vandeuvres, she noticed that they grew suddenly silent; —
当她走近与福歇里、她丈夫和凡德弗交谈的时候，她注意到他们突然变得沉默起来； —

accordingly she did not stop but handed the cup of tea she was offering to Georges Hugon beyond them.
因此她没有停下，而是把她递过去的茶杯交给了他们背后的乔治斯·休冈。

“It’s a lady who desires your company at supper,” the journalist gaily continued, addressing Count Muffat.
“有个女士想请你去吃晚餐，”记者高兴地对着缪法伯爵说道。

The last-named, whose face had worn its gray look all the evening, seemed very much surprised. What lady was it?
那位最后被提及的女士，整个晚上脸上一直带着灰色的表情，似乎非常惊讶。是哪位女士呢？

“Oh, Nana!” said Vandeuvres, by way of forcing the invitation.
“噢，娜娜！”范德弗尔斯说，试图强行邀请。

The count became more grave than before. His eyelids trembled just perceptibly, while a look of discomfort, such as headache produces, hovered for a moment athwart his forehead.
男爵变得比之前更加庄重。他的眼皮微微颤动，额头上一闪而过一种不舒服的表情，就像头痛一样。

“But I’m not acquainted with that lady,” he murmured.
“但我并不认识那位女士，”他轻声说道。

“Come, come, you went to her house,” remarked Vandeuvres.
“嗯，嗯，你去过她家啊，”范德维尔斯说道。

“What d’you say? I went to her house? Oh yes, the other day, in behalf of the Benevolent Organization. —
“你说什么？我去她家了吗？哦对了，前几天，代表慈善组织去过一次。 —

I had forgotten about it. But, no matter, I am not acquainted with her, and I cannot accept.”
我都忘了。但是无论如何，我不认识她，也不能接受。

He had adopted an icy expression in order to make them understand that this jest did not appear to him to be in good taste. —
他冷漠地表达出对这个玩笑不喜欢的态度。 —

A man of his position did not sit down at tables of such women as that. Vandeuvres protested: —
像他这样的人是不会坐在那种女人的桌子旁边的。范德维尔斯抗议道： —

it was to be a supper party of dramatic and artistic people, and talent excused everything. —
那个晚宴是给戏剧和艺术界的人准备的，才华可以原谅一切。 —

But without listening further to the arguments urged by Fauchery, who spoke of a dinner where the Prince of Scots, the son of a queen, had sat down beside an ex-music-hall singer, the count only emphasized his refusal. —
但无论佛修尔里提出什么论点，他谈论过一个晚宴，在那个晚宴上苏格兰王子和一位前歌舞厅歌手坐在了一起，伯爵仅仅强调了他的拒绝。 —

In so doing, he allowed himself, despite his great politeness, to be guilty of an irritated gesture.
虽然他很客气，但个中不悦表现出来了。

Georges and La Faloise, standing in front of each other drinking their tea, had overheard the two or three phrases exchanged in their immediate neighborhood.
乔治和拉法罗斯站在彼此面前喝着茶，他们听到了他们附近交换的两三句话。

“Jove, it’s at Nana’s then,” murmured La Faloise. “I might have expected as much!”
“哇，那就是娜娜的地方了，”拉法罗斯低声说道。“早就料到了！”

Georges said nothing, but he was all aflame. His fair hair was in disorder; —
乔治一言不发，但他内心却燃烧着一团火焰。他的金发乱糟糟的， —

his blue eyes shone like tapers, so fiercely had the vice, which for some days past had surrounded him, inflamed and stirred his blood. —
他的蓝眼睛闪烁着如蜡烛般的光芒，因为几天来围绕着他的恶习已经激起并激荡着他的血液。 —

At last he was going to plunge into all that he had dreamed of!
终于，他要陷入他一直梦寐以求的一切中！

“I don’t know the address,” La Faloise resumed.
“我不知道具体地址，”拉法罗斯又说道。

“She lives on a third floor in the Boulevard Haussmann, between the Rue de l’Arcade and the Rue Pesquier,” said Georges all in a breath.
“她住在欧仁大街上的三楼，那在阿卡德街和佩斯基埃街之间，”乔治一口气说道。

And when the other looked at him in much astonishment, he added, turning very red and fit to sink into the ground with embarrassment and conceit:
当另一个人惊讶地看着他时，他红着脸，尴尬和自负得几乎想要陷入地下去，补充道：

“I’m of the party. She invited me this morning.”
“我是这个聚会的一员。她今早邀请了我。”

But there was a great stir in the drawing room, and Vandeuvres and Fauchery could not continue pressing the count. —
但是在客厅里掀起了一番大吵，万德维尔和福歇里无法继续追问伯爵。 —

The Marquis de Chouard had just come in, and everyone was anxious to greet him. —
乔阿尔侯爵刚进来，大家都急于向他致以问候。 —

He had moved painfully forward, his legs failing under him, and he now stood in the middle of the room with pallid face and eyes blinking, as though he had just come out of some dark alley and were blinded by the brightness of the lamps.
他辛苦地挪动着脚步，在他下瘫的腿的支持下，他站在房间的中央，脸色苍白，眼睛眨巴着，好像刚走出某个黑暗的小巷，被灯光的明亮刺眼着。

“I scarcely hoped to see you tonight, Father,” said the countess. —
“父亲，我没想到今晚能见到您。”伯爵夫人说。 —

“I should have been anxious till the morning.”
“我原本会一直担心到早上的。”

He looked at her without answering, as a man might who fails to understand. —
他望着她没有回答，像一个无法理解的人一样。 —

His nose, which loomed immense on his shorn face, looked like a swollen pimple, while his lower lip hung down. —
他挫败的脸上那庞大的鼻子看起来像个肿胀的大痘子，而他的下嘴唇垂了下来。 —

Seeing him such a wreck, Mme Hugon, full of kind compassion, said pitying things to him.
在看到他如此破败的样子后，赫贡夫人满怀同情地对他说了一些怜悯的话。

“You work too hard. You ought to rest yourself. —
“你工作太辛苦了。你应该休息一下。 —

At our age we ought to leave work to the young people.”
在我们这个年纪，应该把工作留给年轻人。”

“Work! Ah yes, to be sure, work!” he stammered at last. “Always plenty of work.”
“工作啊！是的，确实，工作啊！”他结结巴巴地说道。”总是有很多工作。”

He began to pull himself together, straightening up his bent figure and passing his hand, as was his wont, over his scant gray hair, of which a few locks strayed behind his ears.
他开始收拾自己，挺直了佝偻的身子，像往常一样用手梳理着他稀疏的灰发，有几缕散落在他的耳后。

“At what are you working as late as this?” asked Mme du Joncquoy. —
“你这么晚在做什么工作？”让·让科依夫人问道。 —

“I thought you were at the financial minister’s reception?”
“我以为你在财政部长的招待会上呢？”

But the countess intervened with:“My father had to study the question of a projected law.”
但女伯爵插嘴说：”我父亲必须研究一个拟议的法律问题。”

“Yes, a projected law,” he said; “exactly so, a projected law. I shut myself up for that reason. —
“是的，一个拟议的法律。”他说道，”确实如此，一个拟议的法律。我为此而关起门来。” —

It refers to work in factories, and I was anxious for a proper observance of the Lord’s day of rest. It is really shameful that the government is unwilling to act with vigor in the matter. —
它涉及到工厂工作，我很关心适当地遵守主日休息的问题。政府不愿意在这个问题上采取有力措施真是可耻。 —

Churches are growing empty; we are running headlong to ruin.”
教堂变得越来越空荡荡了；我们正朝着毁灭疾驰而去。”

Vandeuvres had exchanged glances with Fauchery. —
凡尔登夫人已经与福谢里交换了一些眼神。 —

They both happened to be behind the marquis, and they were scanning him suspiciously. —
他们两个碰巧在侯爵的身后，他们怀疑地审视着他。 —

When Vandeuvres found an opportunity to take him aside and to speak to him about the good-looking creature he was in the habit of taking down into the country, the old man affected extreme surprise. —
当Vandeuvres找到机会将他带到一边，谈论他常常带到乡下的那个好看的人时，他装出极度惊讶的样子。 —

Perhaps someone had seen him with the Baroness Decker, at whose house at Viroflay he sometimes spent a day or so. —
也许有人看见他和Baroness Decker在Viroflay的家中呆了一天左右。 —

Vandeuvres’s sole vengeance was an abrupt question:” —
Vandeuvres唯一的报复是一个突兀的问题：“告诉我，你去哪里游荡了？” —

Tell me, where have you been straying to? —
你的肘部被蛛网和石膏覆盖着。 —

Your elbow is covered with cobwebs and plaster.”
“我的肘部，”他喃喃自语，微微不安。“是的确实，是真的。

“My elbow,” he muttered, slightly disturbed. “Yes indeed, it’s true. —
几个人正在离开。已接近午夜。 —

A speck or two, I must have come in for them on my way down from my office.”
两个男仆无声地清理着空杯子和装有蛋糕的盘子。

Several people were taking their departure. It was close on midnight. —
在壁炉前，女士们重新组成小圈子，同时缩小了圈子，在派对结束时谈话更加随意，那种懒散的氛围是特有的。 —

Two footmen were noiselessly removing the empty cups and the plates with cakes. —
前面的这些女士们正在不经意地离开，尽管氛围变得更好。 —

In front of the hearth the ladies had re-formed and, at the same time, narrowed their circle and were chatting more carelessly than before in the languid atmosphere peculiar to the close of a party. —
晚会结束时，几个女士们围着壁炉聊天，彼此之间心无旁骛。 —

The very room was going to sleep, and slowly creeping shadows were cast by its walls. —
这个房间渐渐入睡了，墙壁投下了缓慢移动的阴影。 —

It was then Fauchery spoke of departure. —
就在这时，福修里谈起了离开的事情。 —

Yet he once more forgot his intention at sight of the Countess Sabine. —
然而，当他一眼看到萨宾娜女伯爵时，他再次忘记了自己的打算。 —

She was resting from her cares as hostess, and as she sat in her wonted seat, silent, her eyes fixed on a log which was turning into embers, her face appeared so white and so impassable that doubt again possessed him. —
她正在从她作为女主人的疲倦中休息，静静地坐在她惯常的位置上，眼睛盯着一个正在变成余烬的木柴，她的脸色显得如此苍白和冷漠，以至于他再次产生了疑惑。 —

In the glow of the fire the small black hairs on the mole at the corner of her lip became white. —
在火光的照耀下，她嘴角的痣上的小黑发变成了白色。 —

It was Nana’s very mole, down to the color of the hair. —
它就是娜娜一样的痣，连毛发的颜色都一样。 —

He could not refrain from whispering something about it in Vandeuvres’s ear. Gad, it was true; —
他情不自禁地对万德弗尔耳语了一些关于这个的话。见鬼，它是真的； —

the other had never noticed it before. And both men continued this comparison of Nana and the countess. —
另一个以前从来没有注意到过。两个人继续比较娜娜和女伯爵。 —

They discovered a vague resemblance about the chin and the mouth, but the eyes were not at all alike. —
他们发现下巴和嘴巴有一些模糊的相似之处，但眼睛完全不一样。 —

Then, too, Nana had a good-natured expression, while with the countess it was hard to decide–she might have been a cat, sleeping with claws withdrawn and paws stirred by a scarce-perceptible nervous quiver.
此外，娜娜的表情非常和蔼可亲，而对于女伯爵来说很难下定论 - 她可能就像一只猫，收起了爪子，略微紧张地抖动着爪子。

“All the same, one could have her,” declared Fauchery.
“无论如何，你还是可以拥有她”，福谢里宣称道。

Vandeuvres stripped her at a glance.
凡德维尔斯一眼就看穿了她。

“Yes, one could, all the same,” he said. “But I think nothing of the thighs, you know. —
“是的，无论如何，你还是可以拥有她，”他说，“但我对她的大腿毫不在乎，你明白吗。 —

Will you bet she has no thighs?”
你想打赌她没有大腿吗？”

He stopped, for Fauchery touched him briskly on the arm and showed him Estelle, sitting close to them on her footstool. —
他停下来，因为福谢里快速地碰了碰他的胳膊，并指给他看埃斯泰尔，她正坐在他们旁边的脚凳上。 —

They had raised their voices without noticing her, and she must have overheard them. —
他们提高了声音而没有注意到她，她一定听到了他们的话。 —

Nevertheless, she continued sitting there stiff and motionless, not a hair having lifted on her thin neck, which was that of a girl who has shot up all too quickly. —
尽管如此，她继续坐在那儿，僵硬而一动不动，她瘦弱的脖子没有一根头发动弹，她的脖子看起来像一个长得太快的女孩。 —

Thereupon they retired three or four paces, and Vandeuvres vowed that the countess was a very honest woman. —
于是他们退后了三四步，凡德维尔斯发誓，女伯爵是一个非常诚实的女人。 —

Just then voices were raised in front of the hearth. Mme du Joncquoy was saying:” —
此时，在壁炉前有人在大声争吵。朱昂科伊夫人正在说： —

I was willing to grant you that Monsieur de Bismarck was perhaps a witty man. —
我愿意承认，比斯马克先生或许是个机智的人。 —

Only, if you go as far as to talk of genius–”
只是，如果你说他是个天才的话——

The ladies had come round again to their earliest topic of conversation.
女士们又回到了最早的话题上。

“What the deuce! Still Monsieur de Bismarck!” muttered Fauchery. —
“该死！还是比斯马克先生！”佛舍尔嘟囔道。 —

“This time I make my escape for good and all.”
“这次我要彻底逃离了。”

“Wait a bit,” said Vandeuvres, “we must have a definite no from the count.”
“稍等片刻，”凡德维尔说，“我们得到一个明确的否定答案。”

The Count Muffat was talking to his father-in-law and a certain serious-looking gentleman. —
穆法伯爵正在与他的岳父和一位看上去很严肃的先生交谈。 —

Vandeuvres drew him away and renewed the invitation, backing it up with the information that he was to be at the supper himself. —
凡德维尔将他拉开，再次邀请他，并告诉他自己也将参加宴会。 —

A man might go anywhere; no one could think of suspecting evil where at most there could only be curiosity. —
一个人可以去任何地方；没有人会想到在那里怀疑恶意，最多只会产生好奇。 —

The count listened to these arguments with downcast eyes and expressionless face. —
伯爵低头看着这些论点，面无表情。 —

Vandeuvres felt him to be hesitating when the Marquis de Chouard approached with a look of interrogation. —
凡德维尔感觉他在犹豫，这时候丘阿尔侯爵走了过来，带着询问的表情。 —

And when the latter was informed of the question in hand and Fauchery had invited him in his turn, he looked at his son-in-law furtively. —
当后者听到手头的问题，并且Fauchery也邀请了他时，他偷偷地看了一眼自己的女婿。 —

There ensued an embarrassed silence, but both men encouraged one another and would doubtless have ended by accepting had not Count Muffat perceived M. Venot’s gaze fixed upon him. —
接着是尴尬的沉默，但两个人互相鼓励，并且很可能最终会接受，如果没有M. Venot发现了Muffat伯爵的目光。 —

The little old man was no longer smiling; —
这位老头不再微笑了； —

his face was cadaverous, his eyes bright and keen as steel.
他的脸色苍白，眼神明亮而锐利如钢。

‘No,” replied the count directly, in so decisive a tone that further insistence became impossible.
“不，”伯爵断然回答道，以如此决绝的口气，进一步的坚持变得不可能。

Then the marquis refused with even greater severity of expression. He talked morality. —
然后，侯爵用更加严厉的表情拒绝了。他谈起了道德。 —

The aristocratic classes ought to set a good example. —
贵族阶级应该树立良好的榜样。 —

Fauchery smiled and shook hands with Vandeuvres. —
Fauchery微笑着和Vandeuvres握手。 —

He did not wait for him and took his departure immediately, for he was due at his newspaper office.
他没有等他，立即离开了，因为他要去报社上班。

“At Nana’s at midnight, eh?”
“午夜在娜娜那里，好吗？”

La Faloise retired too. Steiner had made his bow to the countess. —
La Faloise也退下了。Steiner向伯爵夫人鞠了一躬。 —

Other men followed them, and the same phrase went round–“At midnight, at Nana’s”–as they went to get their overcoats in the anteroom. —
其他男人跟着他们走了，同样的短语传开了——“在纳纳的那里，午夜时分。”当他们去接他们的外套时，在前厅。 —

Georges, who could not leave without his mother, had stationed himself at the door, where he gave the exact address. —
乔治站在门口，他不能没有他母亲而离开，他告诉别人确切的地址。 —

“Third floor, door on your left.” Yet before going out Fauchery gave a final glance. —
“三楼，左手边的门。”然而，在离开之前，福谢里最后瞥了一眼。 —

Vandeuvres had again resumed his position among the ladies and was laughing with Leonide de Chezelles. —
旺德弗尔再次回到女士们中间，与列奥尼达·德·舍泽勒斯一起笑。 —

Count Muffat and the Marquis de Chouard were joining in the conversation, while the good Mme Hugon was falling asleep open-eyed. —
马夫特伯爵和舒阿尔德侯爵参与了谈话，而善良的雨贡夫人则睡得睁着眼。 —

Lost among the petticoats, M. Venot was his own small self again and smiled as of old. —
在褶边之间迷失的，维诺自己又回到了他以前的小身影，像往常一样微笑。 —

Twelve struck slowly in the great solemn room.
大庄严的房间里，钟慢慢敲响了十二下。

“What–what do you mean?” Mme du Joncquoy resumed. —
“什么——你是什么意思？”伊万夫人继续说。 —

“You imagine that Monsieur de Bismarck will make war on us and beat us! —
“你想象德·毕马威将对我们开战并打败我们！” —

Oh, that’s unbearable!”
那真是无法忍受！

Indeed, they were laughing round Mme Chantereau, who had just repeated an assertion she had heard made in Alsace, where her husband owned a foundry.
确实，他们在Mademoiselle Chantereau周围嘲笑，她刚刚重复了她在阿尔萨斯听到的一个断言，那里她的丈夫拥有一家铸造厂。

“We have the emperor, fortunately,” said Count Muffat in his grave, official way.
“幸好我们有皇帝，”Muffat伯爵以他沉稳而正式的方式说道。

It was the last phrase Fauchery was able to catch. —
这是Fauchery听到的最后一句话。 —

He closed the door after casting one more glance in the direction of the Countess Sabine. —
他在朝Countess Sabine的方向扔了一个目光，然后关上了门。 —

She was talking sedately with the chief clerk and seemed to be interested in that stout individual’s conversation. —
她正在和首席办事员谈话，看起来对那个肥胖的人的对话很感兴趣。 —

Assuredly he must have been deceiving himself. —
他肯定是在欺骗自己。 —

There was no “little rift” there at all. It was a pity.
那里根本没有“小裂痕”。真可惜。

“You’re not coming down then?” La Faloise shouted up to him from the entrance hall.
“那你就不下来了吗？”La Faloise从入口大厅对他喊道。

And out on the pavement, as they separated, they once more repeated:
当他们分开走上人行道时，他们再次重复着：

“Tomorrow, at Nana’s.”
“明天，去拜访娜娜。”