NATASHA was sixteen, and it was the year 1809, that year to which she had reckoned up on her fingers with Boris, after she had kissed him four years before. —
尼娅夏16岁，当时是1809年，这是她和鲍里斯在她四年前吻别后用手指算出来的那一年。 —

Since then she had not once seen him. When Boris was mentioned she would speak quite freely of it before Sonya and her mother, treating it as a settled thing that all that had passed between them was childish nonsense, not worth talking of and long ago forgotten. —
从那以后，她再也没有见过他。每当提到鲍里斯时，她会在索尼娅和母亲面前自由地谈论此事，将那些已经过去的事情视为幼稚的胡闹，不值一提且早已被遗忘。 —

But in the most secret recesses of her soul the question whether her engagement to Boris were really a mere jest or a solemn, binding promise worried her.
但在她内心最隐秘的角落里，她对于她与鲍里斯的订婚是否只是一个玩笑或是一种庄严、约束的承诺一直困扰着她。

Ever since Boris had left Moscow in 1805 to go into the army he had not once seen the Rostovs. —
自从鲍里斯在1805年离开莫斯科参军以来，他再也没有见过罗斯托夫家的人。 —

Several times he had been in Moscow, and in travelling had passed not far from Otradnoe, but he had not once been at the Rostovs’.
几次他都去了莫斯科，并且在旅途中曾经离O特拉德诺不远，但他连一次都没去罗斯托夫家。

It had sometimes occurred to Natasha that he did not want to see her, and her surmises had been confirmed by the mournful tone in which he was referred to by her elders.
尼娅夏有时会想他不想见她，而她的猜测也被她的长辈们以悲伤的语调所证实。

“Old friends are soon forgotten nowadays,” the countess would say after Boris had been mentioned.
“现在，老朋友很快就被遗忘了，”伯爵夫人在提到鲍里斯后会说。

Anna Mihalovna had taken in these latter days to seeing less of the Rostovs. —
安娜·米哈洛夫娜近来少去看罗斯托夫家。 —

There was a marked dignity, too, in her manner with them, and she spoke on every occasion with thankfulness and enthusiasm of her son’s great abilities and brilliant career. —
她对他们的态度也更加庄重，每次都满怀感激和热情地谈论着她儿子的才华横溢和辉煌的事业。 —

When the Rostovs arrived in Petersburg Boris came to call on them.
当罗斯托夫一家来到彼得堡时，鲍里斯来拜访他们。

It was not without emotion that he came to see them. —
他来看望他们时内心激动不已。 —

His reminiscences of Natasha were Boris’s most poetic memories. —
鲍里斯对娜塔莎的回忆是他最富有诗意的记忆。 —

But at the same time he came to call on them firmly resolved to make her and her relations feel that the childish vows between Natasha and him could have no binding force for her or for him. —
但与此同时，他坚决表示要让她和她的亲属认识到，娜塔莎和他之间的孩子气的誓言对她或对他来说都没有约束力。 —

He had a brilliant position in society, thanks to his intimacy with Countess Bezuhov; —
由于与别祖霍夫伯爵夫人的亲密关系，他在社会上拥有很高的地位； —

a brilliant position in the service, thanks to the protection of a great person whose confidence he had completely won; —
由于一个重要人物对他完全的信任，他在职务上也有出色的职位。 —

and he was beginning to make plans for marrying one of the richest heiresses in Petersburg, plans which might very easily be realised. —
他开始制定计划，准备娶彼得堡最富有的继承人之一，这些计划很容易实现。 —

When Boris went into the Rostovs’ drawing-room, Natasha was in her own room. —
当鲍里斯进入罗斯托夫家的客厅时，娜塔莎在自己的房间里。 —

On hearing of his arrival she almost ran with a flushed face into the drawing-room, radiant with a smile that was more than cordial.
听说他到了，她带着一个脸红的表情迎面走进客厅，带着超过寻常的热情微笑容颜。

Boris had thought of Natasha as the little girl he had known four years before in a short frock, with black eyes glancing under her curls, and a desperate, childish giggle; —
鲍里斯一直以为娜塔莎就是他四年前认识的那个穿着短裙、黑眼睛在卷发下闪闪发光、天真无邪的笑声之女孩； —

and so, when a quite different Natasha came in, he was taken aback and his face expressed surprise and admiration. —
所以当一个完全不同的娜塔莎走进来时，他感到吃惊，脸上表露出惊讶和钦佩之情。 —

His expression delighted Natasha.
他的表情让娜塔莎高兴起来。

“Well, would you know your mischievous little playmate?” said the countess. —
“嗨，你可认得出你淘气的小玩伴？” 伯爵夫人问。 —

Boris kissed Natasha’s hand, and said he was surprised at the change in her.
鲍里斯吻了娜塔莎的手，说他对她的变化感到惊讶。

“How pretty you have grown!”
“你变得如此漂亮！” 娜塔莎笑眼回答。

“I should hope so!” was the answer in Natasha’s laughing eyes.
“希望是这样！”答案在娜塔莎笑眼中。

“And does papa look older?” she asked.
“爸爸看起来老了吗？”她问道。

Natasha sat still, taking no part in the talk between Boris and her mother. —
娜塔莎保持不动，对鲍里斯和她母亲之间的谈话不插一句话。 —

Silently and minutely she scrutinised the young man who had been her suitor in her childhood. —
她默默地并且仔细地审视着曾经在她童年时追求过她的年轻男子。 —

He felt oppressed by that persistent, friendly gaze, and glanced once or twice at her.
他感到那持久而友好的凝视压抑着他，他不止一次地瞥了她一眼。

The uniform, the spurs, the tie, the way Boris had brushed his hair,—it was all fashionable and comme il faut. —
这身制服、马刺、领带和鲍里斯梳过的头发，一切都很时尚合乎礼仪。 —

That Natasha noticed at once. He sat a little sideways on a low chair beside the countess, with his right hand smacking the exquisitely clean and perfectly fitting glove on his left. —
娜塔莎立刻注意到了这一点。他斜斜地坐在伯爵夫人旁边的一把低矮椅子上，右手拍打着左手那件精心洗净并完美贴身的手套。 —

He talked with a peculiar, refined compression of the lips about the divisions of the best society in Petersburg; —
他用一种特殊而精练的嘴唇压缩说着圣彼得堡最高等级社会的划分； —

with faint irony referred to old days in Moscow and old Moscow acquaintances. —
他带着微妙的讽刺提到了在莫斯科的旧日子和旧莫斯科的熟人。 —

Not unintentionally, as Natasha felt, he mentioned some of the highest aristocracy, alluded to the ambassador’s ball, at which he had been present, and to invitations from N. N. and from S. S.
正如娜塔莎感觉到的那样，他刻意提到了一些最高贵的贵族，提到了他曾经参加过的大使的舞会以及来自N. N.和S. S.的邀请。

Natasha sat the whole time without speaking, looking up from under her brows at him. —
娜塔莎一直默默地坐着，从眼眶下面瞥了他一眼。 —

Her eyes made Boris more and more uneasy and embarrassed. —
她的眼神让鲍里斯感到越来越不安和尴尬。 —

He looked round more frequently at Natasha, and broke off in his sentences. —
他频繁地望向娜塔莎，而且在讲话时经常中断。 —

After staying no more than ten minutes he got up and took leave. —
他只待了不超过十分钟就起身告辞。 —

Still the same curious, challenging, and rather ironical eyes gazed at him. —
依旧那双好奇、挑战和略带讽刺的眼睛注视着他。 —

After his first visit, Boris said to himself that Natasha was as attractive to him as she had been in the past, but that he must not give way to his feelings, because to marry her—a girl almost without fortune—would be the ruin of his career, and to renew their old relations without any intention of marriage would be dishonourable. —
在第一次拜访之后，鲍里斯心里暗暗想着，娜塔莎对他来说仍然具有吸引力，但是他不能放纵自己的感情，因为娶她——一个几乎没有财产的女孩——将会毁掉他的事业，而在没有任何结婚意愿的情况下重新恢复他们的旧关系将是不光彩的。 —

Boris resolved to avoid meeting Natasha; —
鲍里斯决定避免与娜塔莎见面； —

but in spite of this resolution he came a few days later, and began to come often, and to spend whole days at the Rostovs’. —
但尽管如此，几天后他还是来了，并经常来，整天待在罗斯托夫家。 —

He fancied that it was essential for him to have a frank explanation with Natasha, to tell her that all the past must be forgotten, that in spite of everything…she could not be his wife, that he had no means, and that they would never consent to her marrying him. —
他认为与娜塔莎进行坦诚的解释是必要的，告诉她过去的一切都应该被忘记，尽管如此…她不能成为他的妻子，他没有经济能力，他们也永远不会同意她嫁给他。 —

But he always failed to do so, and felt an awkwardness in approaching the subject. —
但他总是做不到，感到接触这个话题很尴尬。 —

Every day he became more and more entangled. —
每天他越陷越深。 —

Natasha—so her mother and Sonya judged—seemed to be in love with Boris, as in the past. —
娜塔莎-她的母亲和索尼娅这样判断-似乎还是爱着鲍里斯。 —

She sang for him her favourite songs, showed him her album, made him write in it, would not let him refer to the past, making him feel how delightful she considered the present; —
她为他唱她最喜欢的歌，给他展示她的相册，让他在里面写字，不让他提到过去，让他感受到她对现在是多么的愉快； —

and every day he went home in a whirl without having said what he meant to say, not knowing what he was doing, why he had come, and how it would end. —
每天他都在一片迷茫中回家，没有说出他想说的话，不知道自己在做什么，为什么来了，以及事情会如何结束。 —

Boris gave up visiting Ellen, received reproachful notes every day from her, and still spent whole days together at the Rostovs’.
鲍里斯放弃了去拜访艾伦，每天都收到她的责备性便条，却还是整天呆在罗斯托夫家。