During the whole afternoon they let her reflect．But，in the place of calling her“Madame” as they had up to this time，they simply called her“Mademoiselle”without knowing exactly why，as if they had a desire to put her down a degree in their esteem，which she had taken by storm，and make her feel her shameful situation．
整个下午，他们让她自己反思。但是，他们不再像之前那样称呼她为“夫人”，而是单纯地叫她“小姐”，不明白为何如此，似乎是出于一种降低她在他们心目中的地位的欲望，这个地位是她强行取得的，并且让她意识到她那不光彩的境遇。

The moment supper was served，Mr. Follenvie appeared with his old phrase： —
进餐时间一到，福朗维先生出现了，他重复一贯的句子： —

“The Prussian officer orders me to ask if Miss Elizabeth Rousset has yet changed her mind．”
“普鲁士军官让我问问，伊丽莎白·鲁塞特小姐是否改变了主意。”

Ball-of-Fat responded dryly：“No，sir．”
胖子姑娘简洁地回答：“不，先生。”

But at dinner the coalition weakened． —
但到了晚餐时，联盟开始松动。 —

Loiseau made three unhappy remarks． —
洛瓦索说了三句不妥的话。 —

Each one beat his wits for new examples but found nothing； —
每个人都为找出新的例子而绞尽脑汁， —

when the Countess，without premeditation，perhaps feeling some vague need of rendering homage to religion，asked the elder of the good sisters to tell them some great deeds in the lives of the saints． —
却一无所获；就在这时，伯爵夫人或许是出于对宗教的某种模糊的敬意，不经意间提出让年长的修女给他们讲述圣人生平中的英雄事迹。 —

It appeared that many of their acts would have been considered crimes in our eyes； —
看来很多这样的行为用我们的眼光看来都会被视为罪行； —

but the Church gave absolution of them readily，since they were done for the glory of God，or for the good of all．It was a powerful argument；the Countess made the most of it．
然而教会容易地赦免了这些行为，因为它们是为了上帝的荣耀或者是为了大家的利益。这是一个有力的论点；伯爵夫人充分利用了它。

Thus it may be by one of those tacit understandings，or the veiled complacency in which anyone who wears the ecclesiastical garb excels，it may be simply from the effect of a happy unintelligence，a helpful stupidity，but in fact the religious sister lent a formidable support to the conspiracy． —
因此，可能是由于某种不言而喻的理解，或者是擅长穿着教士法衣的人所擅长的那种隐秘的满意感，也可能仅仅是由于愉快的无知，一种有用的愚蠢，但事实上，宗教修女给阴谋提供了强大的支持。 —

They had thought her timid，but she showed herself courageous，verbose，even vio-lent． —
他们原以为她胆小，但她表现得勇敢、健谈，甚至是激烈。 —

She was not troubled by the chatter of the casuist； —
对于诡辩家的喋喋不休，她毫不为难。 —

her doctrine seemed a bar of iron； —
她的教义似铁般坚硬； —

her faith never hesitated；her conscience had no scruples． —
她的信仰从不动摇；她的良知没有犹豫。 —

She found the sacrifice of Abraham perfectly simple，for she would immediately kill fathar or mother on an order from on high． —
她认为亚伯拉罕的献祭非常简单，因为如果上天有命，她会毫不犹豫地杀害父母。 —

And nothing，in her opinion，could displease the Lord，if the intention was laudable． —
在她看来，只要意图高尚，就无所不能得罪上帝。 —

The Countess put to use the authority of her unwitting accomplice，and added to it the edifying paraphrase and axiom of Jesuit morals： —
伯爵夫人利用了她无意中的帮凶的权威，并且增添了启发性的解释和耶稣会道德的格言： —

“The need justifies the means．”
“目的合理化手段。”

Then she asked her：“Then，my sister，do you think that God accepts intentions，and pardons the deed when the motive is pure？”
于是她问她：“那么，姐妹，您认为上帝接受意图，并且当动机纯洁时赦免行为吗？”

“Who could doubt it，Madame？ —
“谁会怀疑这一点，夫人？ —

An action blamable in itself often becomes meritorious by the thought it springs from．”
本身应受责备的行为常常因其背后的思想变得有功德。”

And they continued thus，unraveling the will of God，foreseeing his decisions，making themselves interested in things that，in truth，they would never think of noticing．All this was guarded，skillful，discreet．But each word of the saintly sister in a cap helped to break down the resistance of the unworthy courtesan． —
她们继续这样下去，揭示着上帝的意志，预见他的决定，对那些事情表现出了兴趣，而这些在真相上，她们是绝不会去注意的。所有这一切都是谨慎的、巧妙的、不动声色的。但这位戴帽子的圣洁姐妹的每一句话，都有助于打破那位不肖女子的抵抗。 —

Then the conversation changed a little，the woman of the chaplet speaking of the houses of her order，of her Superior，of herself，of her dainty neighbor，the dear sister Saint－Nicephore． —
随后，谈话稍稍转变了些，持念珠的女人谈及了她所在教团的房屋、她的上级、她自己，还有她那优雅的邻居，亲爱的尼塞佛雷修女。 —

They had been called to the hospitals of Havre to care for the hundreds of soldiers stricken with smallpox． —
她们曾被召去勒阿弗尔的医院，照顾那些患有天花的无数士兵。 —

They depicted these miserable creatures，giving details of the malady．And while they were stopped，en route，by the caprice of this Prussian officer，a great number of Frenchmen might die，whom perhaps they could have saved！ —
她们描述了这些可怜人，提供了关于疾病的详细信息。而她们要是因为这个普鲁士军官的一时兴起而在途中被阻，许多可能本可由她们所救的法国人或许就会死去！ —

It was a specialty with her，caring for soldiers． —
她以照顾士兵为特长。 —

She had been in Crimea，in Italy，in Austria，and，in telling of her campaigns，she revealed herself as one of those religious aids to drums and trumpets，who seem made to follow camps，pick up the wounded in the thick of battle，and，better than an officer，subdue with a word great bands of undisciplined recruits． —
她曾在克里米亚、意大利、奥地利仕途， 在叙述自己的战役经历时，她显露出自己是那种天生就该追随军营的宗教助手，她能在战斗中最激烈的时候抢救伤员，而且比起军官来，更能用一句话驯服一大群未经训练的新兵。 —

A true，good sister of the rataplan，whose ravaged face，marked with innumerable scars，appeared the image of the devastation of war．
一个真正的、好心的战鼓姐妹，她那被无数疤痕标记的憔悴面容，就像是战争破坏的画面。

No one could speak after her，so excellent seemed the effect of her words．
在她之后没人能说话，她的言辞所产生的效果似乎太过完美。

As soon as the repast was ended they quickly went up to their rooms，with the purpose of not coming down the next day until late in the morning．
宴席一结束，他们便迅速上楼，打算第二天一直到上午晚些时候都不下楼来。

The luncheon was quiet．They had given the grain of seed time to germinate and bear fruit． —
午餐过后一片宁静。他们给予种子发芽结果的时间。 —

The Countess proposed that they take a walk in the afternoon．The Count，being agreeably inclined，gave an arm to Ball-of-Fat and walked behind the others with her． —
伯爵夫人提议下午去散步。伯爵欣然同意，挽起胖姑娘的手臂，跟在其他人后面同她一起走。 —

He talked to her in a familiar，paternal tone，a little disdainful，after the manner of men having girls in their employ，calling her“my dear child，”from the height of his social position，of his undisputed honor．He reached the vital part of the question at once：
他用一种亲切、父爱般略带轻蔑的口吻与她交谈，那种男性对待自己雇佣的女孩们时的态度，从他的社会地位、不容置疑的荣誉之高处称呼她为“我亲爱的孩子”。他直截了当地触及了问题的关键：

“Then you prefer to leave us here，exposed to the violences which follow a defeat，rather than consent to a favor which you have so often given in your life？”
“那么，你宁愿让我们留在这里，面对战败后可能出现的暴行，也不愿意同意你生平中已如此多次给予的恩惠吗？”

Ball－of－Fat answered nothing．
胖姑娘一言不发。

Then he tried to reach her through gentleness，reason，and then the sentiments．He knew how to remain “The Count，”even while showing himself gallant or complimentary，or very amiable if it became necessary． —
于是他尝试通过温柔、理性，再到情感，来接近她。他懂得如何在展示自己的殷勤或赞美，或在必要时展现出非常讨人喜欢的一面的同时，仍维持“伯爵”身份的风度。 —

He exalted the service that she would render them，and spoke of her appreciation； —
他高度赞扬她将给予他们的帮助，并谈到了她的欣赏； —

then suddenly became gaily familiar，and said：
然后突然变得亲切而轻松，说：

“And you know，my dear，it would be something for him to boast of that he had known a pretty girl； —
“而且你知道，亲爱的，对他来说能够吹嘘他认识一个漂亮姑娘，这将是一件值得炫耀的事情； —

something it is difficult to find in his country．”
这在他的国家是很难找到的。”

Ball-of-Fat did not answer but joined the rest of the party． —
圆胖女子没有回答，而是加入了其他人的行列。 —

As soon as they entered the house she went to her room and did not appear again． —
一旦他们进了房子，她就直接去了自己的房间，之后便没有露面。 —

The disquiet was extreme．What were they to do？ —
焦虑情绪极度蔓延。该怎么办呢？ —

If she continued to resist，what an embarrassment！
如果她继续抵抗，这会多尴尬啊！

The dinner hour struck．They waited in vain． —
晚餐时间到了。他们徒劳地等待。 —

Mr. Follenvie finally entered and said that Miss Rousset was indisposed，and would not be at the table． —
福朗维先生终于进来，说鲁塞特小姐不舒服，不会来餐桌上。 —

Everybody pricked up his ears． —
所有人都竖起了耳朵。 —

The Count went to the innkeeper and said in a low voice：
伯爵走到旅馆老板那里，低声说道：

“Is he in there？”
“他在里面吗？”

“Yes．”
“是的。”

For convenience，he said nothing to his companions，but made a slight sign with his head． —
为了方便起见，他没有对同伴们说什么，但是轻轻地点了点头。立刻， —

Immediately a great sigh of relief went up from every breast and a light appeared in their faces． —
每个人的胸中都发出一声巨大的松了一口气，脸上都露出了光芒。 —

Loiseau cried out：
洛瓦索大叫道：

“Holy Christopher！I pay for the champagne，if there is any to be found in the establishment． —
“天哪，克里斯托弗啊！如果这家店里有香槟，我请客。 —

”And Mrs. Loiseau was pained to see the proprietor return with four quart bottles in his hands．
”而洛瓦索夫人却因看到老板手里提着四大瓶回来而感到难过。

Each one had suddenly become communicative and buoyant． —
每个人突然变得健谈而兴奋。 —

A wanton joy filled their hearts． —
一种放荡的快乐充满了他们的心。 —

The Count suddenly perceived that Mrs. Carré-Lamadon was charming，the manufacturer paid compliments to the Countess． —
伯爵突然发现卡雷-拉马东夫人迷人无比，那位制造商向伯爵夫人赞美着。 —

The conversation was lively，gay，full of touches．
谈话活跃、愉快，充满了机智。

Suddenly Loiseau，with anxious face and hand up-raised，called out：“Silence！”Everybody was silent，surprised，already frightened． —
突然，洛瓦索带着焦急的表情，举手示意，高喊：“安静！”所有人都沉默了，出于惊讶，已经感到害怕。 —

Then he listened intently and said：“S-s-sh！ —
然后他聚精会神地倾听，并说： —

”his two eyes and his hands raised to-ward the ceiling，listening，and then continuing，in his natural voice：“All right！All goes well！”
“嘘——！”他的双眼和双手举向天花板，倾听着，接着用他平常的声音继续说：“没事！一切正常！”

They failed to comprehend at first，but soon all laughed． —
起初他们没有理解，但不久大家都笑了。 —

At the end of a quarter of an hour he began the same farce again，renewing it occasionally during the whole afternoon． —
一个小时四分之一过去后，他开始重复同样的闹剧， —

And he pretended to call some one in the story above，giving him advice in a double meaning，drawn from the fountain-head-the mind of a commercial traveler． —
在整个下午偶尔再做一次。他还假装向楼上的某个人呼唤，用源自一个商旅心灵的双关语给出建议。 —

For some moments he would assume a sad air，breathing in a whisper： —
有时他会摆出一副悲伤的样子，低声喘息道： —

“Poor girl！”Then he would murmur between his teeth，with an appearance of rage：“Ugh！ —
“可怜的姑娘！”他会在牙缝间嘟囔， —

That scamp of a Prussian．”Sometimes，at a moment when no more was thought about it，he would say，in an affected voice，many times over： —
带着一股愤怒的神情：“啊！那个普鲁士的无赖。” —

“Enough！enough！”and add，as if speaking to himself，“If we could only see her again，it isn’t necessary that he should kill her，the wretch！”
“够了！够了！”他接着添油加醋地说，仿佛自言自语，“我们要是能再见到她，那家伙没必要杀了她，可恶的家伙！”

Although these jokes were in deplorable taste，they amused all and wounded no one，for indignation，like other things，depends upon its surroundings，and the atmosphere which had been gradually created around them was charged with sensual thoughts．
虽然这些笑话品味低劣，它们却逗乐了所有人，且没有伤害到任何人，因为就像其他事物一样，愤慨也取决于其环境，而围绕他们所逐渐形成的氛围，已经充斥着感官思维。