WHEN BORIS AND ANNA PAVLOVNA returned to the rest, Prince Ippolit was in possession of the ear of the company. —
当鲍里斯和安娜巴甫洛夫娜回到其他人面前时，伊波利特王子已经完全占据了大家的注意力。 —

Bending forward in his low chair, he was saying:
伊波利特俯身坐在他的低矮椅子上，他说道：“普鲁士国王！”说完后他笑了起来。所有人都转向他看去。

“The King of Prussia!” and as he said it, he laughed. Every one turned towards him. —
“普鲁士国王？”伊波利特带着疑问的语气再次笑了起来，然后安静而认真地坐回到他那宽敞而低矮的椅子里。 —

“The King of Prussia,” Ippolit said interrogatively, and again he laughed and again settled himself placidly and seriously in the depths of his big, low chair. —
安娜巴甫洛夫娜稍稍停顿，等待着伊波利特继续说下去，但伊波利特显然没有更多要说的意图。她便开始谈起那个无神论者波拿巴在波茨坦带走了腓特烈大帝的剑的事情。 —

Anna Pavlovna paused a little for him, but as Ippolit seemed quite certainly not intending to say more, she began to speak of how the godless Bonaparte had at Potsdam carried off the sword of Frederick the Great.
她正要说出“这是腓特烈大帝的剑，我……”时，伊波利特打断了她的话，说道：“普鲁士国王……”然后在所有人都转向他听时，他就解释了一下自己，并没有再说下去。

“It is the sword of Frederick the Great, which I …” she was beginning, but Ippolit interrupted her with the words:
他们都等着伊波利特继续说下去，但是他却仍然不再开口。大家有些尴尬，又开始寻找话题来转移注意力。

“The King of Prussia …” and again as soon as all turned to listen to him, he excused himself and said no more. —
最终，大家决定放弃等待伊波利特的回答，开始谈论其他的话题。 —

Anna Pavlovna frowned. Mortemart, Ippolit’s friend, addressed him with decision:
安娜·巴甫洛夫娜皱起了眉头。莫特玛特，伊波立特的朋友，毫不犹豫地对他说道：

“Come, what are you after with your King of Prussia?”
“来吧，你对普鲁士国王有何企图？”

Ippolit laughed as though he were ashamed of his own laughter.
伊波立笑得好像对自己的笑声感到羞愧般。

“No, it’s nothing. I only meant …” (He had intended to repeat a joke that he had heard in Vienna and had been trying all the evening to get in. —
“没什么，只是我想……”（他本打算重复一句他在维也纳听到的笑话，整晚都在努力说出来。 —

) “I only meant that we are wrong to make war for the King of Prussia.”
“我只是想说我们为了普鲁士国王而打仗是错的。”

Boris smiled circumspectly, a smile that might do duty either for a sneer or a tribute to the jest, according to the way it was received. Every one laughed.
鲍里斯谨慎地微笑着，这种微笑既可以当作嘲笑，也可以当作对笑话的致敬，取决于它的接受方式。大家都笑了。

“It is too bad, your joke, very witty but unjust,” said Anna Pavlovna, shaking her little wrinkled finger at him. —
“你这个笑话太过分了，非常机智但不公正，”安娜·巴甫洛夫娜说着，伸出她那只皱巴巴的小手指指着他。 —

“We are not making war for the sake of the King of Prussia, but for the sake of right principles. —
“我们打仗不是为了普鲁士国王，而是为了正确的原则。 —

Ah, le méchant, ce Prince Hippolyte!” she said.
啊，这个坏家伙，这个伊波立王子！”她说。

The conversation did not flag all the evening, and turned principally upon the political news. —
整晚的谈话一直活跃不衰，主要围绕着政治新闻展开。 —

Towards the end of the evening it became particularly eager, when the rewards bestowed by the Tsar were the subjects of discussion.
在晚上快结束时，当沙皇所授予的奖励成为讨论的对象时，气氛变得特别热切。

“Why, last year N.N. received the snuff-box with the portrait,” said the man of profound intellect. —
“嗯，去年N.N.收到了带有肖像的鼻烟盒，”一位极富才智的人说。 —

“Why shouldn’t S. S. receive the same reward?”
“为什么S.S.不能得到同样的奖励呢？”

“I beg your pardon, a snuff-box with the Emperor’s portrait is a reward, but not a distinction,” said a diplomatist. —
“请原谅，带有皇帝肖像的鼻烟盒是一种奖励，但不是一种荣誉，”一位外交官说道。 —

“A present, rather.”
“更像是个礼物。”

“There are precedents. I would instance Schwartzenberg.”
“这方面有先例。我可以举出施瓦岑贝格的例子。”

“It is impossible,” retorted another.
“不可能，”另一个人反驳道。

“A bet on it. The ribbon of the order is different.”
“可以打赌。勋章的丝带是不同的。”

When every one got up to take leave, Ellen, who had said very little all the evening, turned to Boris again with a request, and a caressing, impressive command that he would come to her on Tuesday.
在每个人起身道别时，埃伦，整晚都没怎么说话的埃伦，又对鲍里斯说了一句要求，并给了他一个娇媚而有力的命令，要他在周二去找她。

“It is of great importance to me,” she said with a smile, looking round at Anna Pavlovna, and Anna Pavlovna, with the same mournful smile with which she accompanied any reference to her royal patroness, gave her support to Ellen’s wishes. —
“我非常看重这个，”她微笑着说道，环顾四周看着Anna Pavlovna，而Anna Pavlovna以同样悲伤的微笑，对她皇家赞助人一提到的任何事情都表示支持。 —

It appeared that from some words Boris had uttered that evening about the Prussian army Ellen had suddenly discovered the absolute necessity of seeing him. —
那天晚上，据鲍里斯所说，埃伦突然发现了见他的迫切必要性，那是关于普鲁士军队的事情。 —

She seemed to promise him that when he came on Tuesday she would disclose to him that necessity. —
她似乎向他承诺，当他在星期二来的时候，她会向他透露那个必要性。 —

When Boris entered Ellen’s magnificent reception-room on Tuesday evening he received no clear explanation of the urgent reasons for his visit. —
星期二晚上，当鲍里斯进入埃伦华丽的接待室时，他并没有得到他来访的紧迫原因的明确解释。 —

Other guests were present, the countess talked little to him, and only as he kissed her hand at taking leave, with a strangely unsmiling face, she whispered to him unexpectedly:
还有其他客人在场，女伯爵很少与他交谈，只有在他告别时亲吻她手的时候，她突然低声对他说道：

“Come to dinner to-morrow … in the evening … you must come … come.”
“明天晚上来参加晚餐……你必须来……来吧。”

During that stay in Petersburg Boris was constantly at the house of the Countess Bezuhov on a footing of the closest intimacy.
在彼得堡期间，鲍里斯与贝祖霍夫女伯爵家保持着最亲密的关系。