AT THE BEGINNING of the winter Princess Marya arrived in Moscow. —
冬天刚开始，玛丽亚公主抵达莫斯科。 —

From the gossip of the town she heard of the position of the Rostovs, and of how “the son was sacrificing himself for his mother,” as the gossips said. —
城里的流言中，她听说了罗斯托夫家的处境，也听说了“儿子为了母亲而牺牲自己”，正如流言所说。 —

“It is just what I expected of him,” Princess Marya said to herself, finding in it a delightful confirmation of her love for him. —
“这正是我对他的期望”，玛丽亚公主自言自语，她在这里找到了对自己对他的爱的愉快确认。 —

Remembering her intimate relations with the whole family—almost as one of themselves—she thought it her duty to call on them. —
既然她和整个家庭的关系密切，几乎就像他们的一员，她认为应该去拜访他们。 —

But thinking of her relations with Nikolay in Voronezh, she was afraid of doing so. —
但是一想到她在沃罗涅日与尼古拉的关系，她不敢这样做。 —

A few weeks after her arrival in Moscow, she did, however, make an effort, and went to see the Rostovs.
在莫斯科到达几个星期后，她终于下了决心，去拜访罗斯托夫一家。

Nikolay was the first to meet her, since it was impossible to reach the countess’s room without passing through his room. —
尼古拉是第一个遇见她的人，因为要到达伯爵夫人的房间，必须经过他的房间。 —

Instead of the expression of delight Princess Marya had expected to see on his face at the first glance at her, he met her with a look of chilliness, stiffness, and pride that she had never seen before. —
玛丽亚公主原以为一见到她，他的脸上会出现欣喜的表情，但他却冷漠、冷淡地对待她，还带着骄傲，这是她以前从未见过的。 —

Nikolay inquired after her health, conducted her to his mother, and, after staying five minutes, went out of the room.
尼古拉问候了她的健康状况，陪她去见他的母亲，待了五分钟后便离开了房间。

When Princess Marya left the countess, Nikolay again met her, and with marked formality and stiffness led her to the hall. —
玛丽亚公主离开伯爵夫人房间后，又碰到了尼古拉，他表现得异常拘谨和生硬地将她带到了大厅。 —

He made no reply to her remarks about the countess’s health. —
他对她关于伯爵夫人健康的话没有回应。 —

“What is it to you? Leave me in peace,” his expression seemed to say.
“这跟你有什么关系？别打扰我，”他的表情似乎在说。

“And why should she stroll in here? What does she want? —
“她在这里闲逛有何目的？ —

I can’t endure these ladies and all these civilities! —
我受不了这些夫人们和所有这些彬彬有礼！ —

” he said aloud before Sonya, obviously unable to restrain his vexation, after the princess’s carriage had rolled away from the house.
“玛丽亚公主的马车离开房子后，尼古拉在索尼娅面前大声说道，显然无法控制他的恼怒。

“Oh, how can you talk like that, Nicolas,” said Sonya, hardly able to conceal her delight. —
“哦，你怎么能这样说，尼古拉斯，”索尼娅说道，几乎无法掩饰她的喜悦。 —

“She is so kind, and maman is so fond of her.”
“她非常善良，妈妈非常喜欢她。”

Nikolay made no reply, and would have liked to say no more about Princess Marya. But after her visit the old countess talked about her several times every day.
尼古拉伊没有回答，也不想再多谈玛丽亚公主的事了。但在她来过之后，老伯爵夫人每天几次都会谈起她。

She sang her praises; insisted that her son should go and see her; —
她赞扬她，坚持说她的儿子应该去看看她； —

expressed a wish to see more of her; and yet was always out of temper when she had been talking of her.
表达了想要更多接触她的愿望；可每次谈起她后，她总是心情不好。

Nikolay tried to say nothing when his mother talked of Princess Marya, but his silence irritated her.
尼古拉伊在他母亲谈起玛丽亚公主时尽量不说话，但他的沉默激怒了她。

“She is a very good and conscientious girl,” she would say, “and you must go and call on her. —
“她是一个非常善良和认真的女孩，”她会说，“你必须去拜访她。 —

Anyway, you will see some one; and it is dull for you, I expect, with us.”
总之你会见到一些人；我想，你和我们在一起感到无聊。”

“But I don’t at all wish to, mamma.”
“但是妈妈，我不想去。”

“Why, you wanted to see people and now you don’t wish it. I really don’t understand you, my dear. —
“你为什么？你曾经想见人，现在又不想了。我真的不明白你，亲爱的。 —

At one minute you are dull, and the next you suddenly don’t care to see any one.”
一会儿你感到无聊，下一刻你突然不想见任何人。”

“Why, I never said I was dull.”
“为什么？我从来没有说过我觉得无聊。”

“Why, you said yourself you did not even wish to see her. —
“你自己都说你甚至不想见她。 —

She is a very good girl, and you always liked her; —
她是一个非常好的女孩，你以前总喜欢她； —

and now all of a sudden you have some reasons or other. —
现在突然之间你有了些其他的原因。” —

Everything is kept a secret from me.”
一切都对我隐瞒着。

“Not at all, mamma.”
没什么，妈妈。

“If I were to beg you to do something unpleasant, but as it is, I simply beg you to drive over and return her call. —
如果我现在请求你做一件不愉快的事，但事实上，我只是请求你过去回个电话。 —

Why, civility demands it, I should suppose … I have begged you to do so, and now I will meddle no further since you have secrets from your mother.”
为什么，礼貌要求如此吧…我已经请求你这样做了，既然你对妈妈保密的话，我就不再多管闲事了。

“But I will go, if you wish it.”
但如果你希望的话，我会去的。

“It’s nothing to me; it’s for your sake I wish it.”
对我来说没关系，我只是为了你才希望你去。

Nikolay sighed, and bit his moustache, and dealt the cards, trying to draw his mother’s attention to another subject.
尼古拉叹了口气，咬了咬胡子，发牌时试图引起母亲对另一个话题的注意。

Next day, and the third, and the fourth, the same conversation was repeated again and again.
第二天，第三天，第四天，同样的话又一遍又一遍地重复着。

After her visit to the Rostovs, and the unexpectedly cold reception she had met with from Nikolay, Princess Marya acknowledged to herself that she had been right in not wanting to be the first to call.
在她拜访罗斯托夫家后，以及她从尼古拉那里意外地受到的冷遇后，玛丽亚公主承认自己不愿意先打电话是正确的。

“It was just what I expected,” she said to herself, summoning her pride to her aid. —
这正是我预料到的，她对自己说，调动起她的傲慢。 —

“I have no concern with him, and I only wanted to see the old lady, who was always kind to me, and to whom I am under obligation for many things.”
我与他无关，我只是想见见一直对我很好、对我有很多帮助的老太太。

But she could not tranquillise herself with these reflections: —
但她无法用这些思考使自己平静下来。 —

a feeling akin to remorse fretted her, when she thought of her visit. —
当她想起这次访问时，她感到了一种类似懊悔的情绪。 —

Although she was firmly resolved not to call again on the Rostovs, and to forget all about it, she was continually feeling herself in an undefined position. —
尽管她坚决决定不再去拜访罗斯托夫家，并忘记这一切，但她总是感觉自己处在一个模糊不清的位置上。 —

And when she asked herself what it was that worried her, she was obliged to admit that it was her relation to Rostov. —
而当她问自己到底是什么让她烦恼时，她不得不承认与罗斯托夫的关系是其原因。 —

His cold, ceremonious tone did not proceed from his feeling for her (of that she was convinced), but that tone covered something. —
他那冷淡而庄重的语气并非出自对她的感情（她确信如此），而是掩盖了某些东西。 —

What that something was, she wanted to see clearly, and till then she felt that she could not be at peace.
她想要清晰地看到那个东西，直到那时她才能够心安理得。

In the middle of the winter she was sitting in the schoolroom, supervising her nephew’s lessons, when the servant announced that Rostov was below. —
隆冬时节，她坐在教室里，监督着侄子的功课，这时仆人宣告罗斯托夫在楼下。 —

With the firm determination not to betray her secret, and not to manifest any embarrassment, she summoned Mademoiselle Bourienne, and with her went into the drawing-room.
为了坚决保守她的秘密，并且不显露任何尴尬，她叫来了布琳小姐，和她一同走进了客厅。

At the first glance at Nikolay’s face, she saw that he had come merely to perform the obligations of civility, and she determined to keep to the tone he adopted towards her.
一看到尼古拉的脸，她就知道他只是为了履行礼节而来，她决定保持他对她的态度。

They talked of the health of the countess, of common acquaintances, of the latest news of the war, and when the ten minutes required by propriety had elapsed, Nikolay got up to say good-bye.
他们谈论了女伯爵的身体状况，共同的熟人，战争的最新消息，当礼节所需的十分钟过去后，尼古拉站起来要道别。

With the aid of Mademoiselle Bourienne, Princess Marya had kept up the conversation very well. —
在布琳小姐的帮助下，玛丽亚公主维持了对话的进行得很好。 —

But at the very last moment, just when he was getting up, she was so weary of talking of what did not interest her, and she was so absorbed in wondering why to her alone so little joy had been vouchsafed in life, that in a fit of abstraction, she sat motionless gazing straight before her with her luminous eyes, and not noticing that he was getting up.
但就在最后一刻，在他站起来的时候，她对那些不感兴趣的事物感到厌倦，她全神贯注地想知道为什么对于她一个人来说，生活中那么少的喜悦，以至于她陷入了漫长的沉思中，直视前方，没有注意到他正在站起来。

Nikolay looked at her, and anxious to appear not to notice her abstraction, he said a few words to Mademoiselle Bourienne, and again glanced at the princess. —
尼古拉看着她，为了不显露出对她心不在焉的样子，他对布琳小姐说了几句话，又朝公主瞥了一眼。 —

She was sitting in the same immovable pose, and there was a look of suffering on her soft face. —
她坐在同样不动的姿势中，脸上带着一丝痛苦的神色。 —

He felt suddenly sorry for her, and vaguely conscious that he might be the cause of the sadness he saw in her face. —
他突然为她感到难过，并模糊地意识到他可能是她脸上看到的悲伤的原因。 —

He longed to help her, to say something pleasant to her, but he could not think what to say to her.
他渴望帮助她，对她说一些愉快的话，但他想不出该对她说什么。

“Good-bye, princess,” he said. She started, flushed, and sighed heavily.
“再见，公主，”他说。她吃惊地动了一下，脸红了，沉重地叹了口气。

“Oh, I beg your pardon,” she said, as though waking from sleep. —
“哦，对不起，”她说，就像从梦中醒来一样。 —

“You are going already, count; well, good-bye! —
“你已经要走了，伯爵，好吧，再见！ —

Oh, the cushion for the countess?”
“哦，伯爵夫人的垫子？”

“Wait a minute, I will fetch it,” said Mademoiselle Bourienne, and she left the room.
“等一下，我拿来，”玛德莫瓦塞尔·布里安娜说着离开了房间。

They were both silent, glancing at each other now and then.
他们俩都默默无言，时不时地相互看着。

“Yes, princess,” said Nikolay at last, with a mournful smile, “it seems not long ago, but how much has happened since the first time we met at Bogutcharovo. —
“是的，公主，”尼古拉最后说道，带着悲伤的微笑，“似乎不久前的事，但自从我们第一次在博古恰罗夫相遇以来发生了很多事情。” —

We all seemed in such trouble then, but I would give a great deal to have that time back … and there’s no bringing it back.”
“那时我们都似乎陷入了困境，但我愿意付出很多来重拥有那个时光……但那已经无法再回来了。”

Princess Marya was looking intently at him with her luminous eyes, as he said that. —
公主玛丽亚凝视着他，望着他那闪闪发亮的眼睛，他说这话的时候。 —

She seemed trying to divine the secret import of his words, which would make clear his feeling towards her.
她似乎试图揣摩他话语的深意，以便弄清楚他对她的感受。

“Yes, yes,” she said, “but you have no need to regret the past, count. —
“是的，是的，”她说，“但你不需要为过去而懊悔，伯爵。 —

As I conceive of your life now, you will always think of it with satisfaction, because the self-sacrifice in which you are now …”
根据我对你现在生活的理解，你将会时刻满意地回忆起过去，因为你现在正在做的是自我牺牲……”

“I cannot accept your praises,” he interrupted hurriedly; —
“我不能接受你的赞美，”他急忙打断道； —

“on the contrary, I am always reproaching myself; —
“相反，我总是在责备自己； —

but it is an uninteresting and cheerless subject.”
但那是一个乏味而沉闷的话题。”

And again the stiff and cold expression came back into his face. —
他的脸上又重新出现了那种板着冷漠的表情。 —

But Princess Marya saw in him again now the man she had known and loved, and it was to that man only she was speaking now.
但公主玛丽亚现在再次在他身上看到了她所认识和爱着的那个男人，现在她只是在与那个男人交谈。

“I thought you would allow me to say that,” she said. —
“我以为你会允许我说出这些话的，”她说道。 —

“I have been such intimate friends with you … and with your family, and I thought you would not feel my sympathy intrusive; —
“我和你以及你的家人交情那么密切，我以为你不会觉得我关心你是多余的； —

but I made a mistake,” she said. Her voice suddenly shook. —
但是我错了，”她声音突然颤抖起来。 —

“I don’t know why,” she went on, recovering herself, “you used to be different, and …”
“我不知道为什么，”她继续说道，恢复了冷静，“你以前是不一样的，而且……”

“There are thousands of reasons why.” (He laid special stress on the word why. —
“有成千上万个原因，”（他特别强调了为什么这个词）。 —

) “I thank you, princess,” he added softly. —
“我感谢你，公主，”他轻声补充道。 —

“It is sometimes hard …”
“有时候很难……”

“So that is why! That is why!” an inner voice was saying in Princess Marya’s soul. —
“所以这就是原因！这就是原因！”玛丽亚公主内心深处有一个声音在说。 —

“Yes, it was not only that gay, kind, and frank gaze, not only that handsome exterior I loved in him; —
“是的，我喜欢他不仅仅是因为他那欢快、友善和坦率的目光，也不仅仅是因为他英俊的外表； —

I divined his noble, firm, and self-sacrificing soul,” she said to herself.
我认为他有着高贵、坚定和无私的灵魂，”她对自己说。

“Yes, he is poor now, and I am rich … Yes, it is only that … Yes, if it were not for that …” And recalling all his former tenderness, and looking now at his kind and sad face, she suddenly understood the reason of his coldness.
“是的，他现在是贫困的，而我却很富有……是的，只是这个原因……是的，如果不是因为这个……”回想起他过去的柔情，现在再看着他那友善而悲伤的面容，她突然明白了他冷淡的原因。

“Why! count, why?” she almost cried all at once, involuntarily moving nearer to him. —
“为什么！伯爵，为什么？”她几乎一下子喊道，情不自禁地靠近他。 —

“Why, do tell me. You must tell me.” He was mute. —
“为什么，告诉我。你必须告诉我。”他沉默不语。 —

“I do not know, count, your why,” she went on. “But I am sad, I … I will own that to you. —
“我不知道，伯爵，你的原因，”她接着说道，“但是我很伤心，我……我承认给你。 —

You mean for some reason to deprive me of our old friendship. And that hurts me. —
你是出于某种原因打算剥夺我们的旧友谊。而这让我很伤心。” —

” There were tears in her eyes and in her voice. —
她的眼中和声音中都有泪水。 —

“I have had so little happiness in my life that every loss is hard for me … Excuse me, good-bye,” she suddenly burst into tears, and was going out of the room.
“我一生中几乎没有过多少快乐，所以每一次失去都对我来说都很难过…对不起，再见。”她突然哭了起来，然后走出了房间。

“Princess! stay, for God’s sake,” he cried, trying to stop her. “Princess!”
“公主！求求你了，留下来。”他大声喊道，试图阻止她。“公主！”

She looked round. For a few seconds they gazed mutely in each other’s eyes, and the remote and impossible became all at once close at hand, possible and inevitable.
她环顾四周。几秒钟间，他们默默地相互凝视着，那遥远而不可能的事情突然变得近在咫尺，可能而且不可避免。