Now, in order to convey an idea of what passed at that table, we cannot do better than to transcribe here a passage from one of Mademoiselle Baptistine’s letters to Madame Boischevron, wherein the conversation between the convict and the Bishop is described with ingenious minuteness.
现在，为了传达在那张桌子上发生的事情，我们最好的办法是在一封巴蒂斯丁小姐写给波茜克芙朗夫人的信中转录一段，描述了囚犯与主教之间的对话，描述得非常详细。

”… This man paid no attention to any one. —
“这个人根本没有注意任何人。 —

He ate with the voracity of a starving man. —
他吃得像一个快要饿死的人一样贪婪。 —

However, after supper he said:
不过，晚饭过后他说：

”`Monsieur le Cure of the good God, all this is far too good for me; —
‘善良上帝的修士先生，这一切对我来说实在太好了； —

but I must say that the carters who would not allow me to eat with them keep a better table than you do.’
但我必须说，那些不让我跟他们一起吃饭的车夫的饭菜比你的好多了。’

“Between ourselves, the remark rather shocked me. My brother replied:-
“说实话，这个言论让我有些震惊。我哥哥回答道：

”`They are more fatigued than I.’
‘他们比我更疲劳。’

“No,' returned the man,they have more money. You are poor; I see that plainly. —
“‘不，’那个人回答道，‘他们更有钱。你很穷，我看得很清楚。 —

You cannot be even a curate. Are you really a cure? —
你甚至不能成为一个牧师。你真的是一个修士吗？ —

Ah, if the good God were but just, you certainly ought to be a cure!’
啊，如果善良的上帝只是公正的话，你一定应该是个修士！’

”`The good God is more than just,’ said my brother.
“‘善良的上帝远比公正，’我哥哥说。

“A moment later he added:–
过了一会儿，他又补充道：

”`Monsieur Jean Valjean, is it to Pontarlier that you are going?’
“‘让万列先生，你是要去庞塔里吗？’

”`With my road marked out for me.’
“‘我的道路已为我划定。’”

“I think that is what the man said. Then he went on:–
我想那就是那个人说的。接着他继续说道：–

”I must be on my way by daybreak to-morrow. Travelling is hard. --- <span><tang1>我必须在明天黎明前启程。旅行很辛苦。 —

If the nights are cold, the days are hot.’
如果夜晚很冷，白天就会很热。’

“You are going to a good country,' said my brother.During the Revolution my family was ruined. —
你正要去一个好地方，'我哥哥说。在革命期间，我的家庭被毁了。 —

I took refuge in Franche-Comte at first, and there I lived for some time by the toil of my hands. —
我最初在弗朗什孔泰避难，在那里我以手工为生活一段时间。 —

My will was good. I found plenty to occupy me. One has only to choose. —
我有良好的意愿。我找到了很多事情去忙碌。人只需要选择。 —

There are paper mills, tanneries, distilleries, oil factories, watch factories on a large scale, steel mills, copper works, twenty iron foundries at least, four of which, situated at Lods, at Chatillon, at Audincourt, and at Beure, are tolerably large.’
那里有造纸厂、制革厂、蒸馏厂、榨油厂、大规模的钟表厂、钢铁厂、铜厂，至少有二十家铸铁厂，其中有四家相当大，分别位于洛德、夏蒂永、昂当库尔和伯勒。’

“I think I am not mistaken in saying that those are the names which my brother mentioned. —
我认为我的哥哥提到的就是这些名字。 —

Then he interrupted himself and addressed me:–
接着他中断了自己的话，转向我说：–

”Have we not some relatives in those parts, my dear sister?' <span><tang1>亲爱的姐姐，我们在那些地方不是有一些亲戚吗？’

“I replied,–
我回答道：–

”We did have some; among others, M. de Lucenet, who was captain of the gates at Pontarlier under the old regime.' <span><tang1>曾经是有一些的；其中有卢塞奈先生，在旧制度下是庞塔利耶的城门队长。’

“Yes,' resumed my brother;but in ‘93, one had no longer any relatives, one had only one’s arms. —
是的，'我哥哥接着说，但在93年，人不再有亲戚，只有自己的双臂。 —

I worked. They have, in the country of Pontarlier, whither you are going, Monsieur Valjean, a truly patriarchal and truly charming industry, my sister. —
我工作。蒙瓦雷尔尔地区，在您即将前往的庞塔利耶的乡村，有一个真正家族化且迷人的产业，我妹妹。 —

It is their cheese-dairies, which they call fruitieres.’
那就是他们的奶酪场，他们称之为果园。’

“Then my brother, while urging the man to eat, explained to him, with great minuteness, what these fruitieres of Pontarlier were; —
“然后我的兄弟一边劝说那个人吃饭，一边详细解释了Pontarlier的这些奶酪厂; —

that they were divided into two classes: —
它们分为两类: —

the big barns which belong to the rich, and where there are forty or fifty cows which produce from seven to eight thousand cheeses each summer, and the associated fruitieres, which belong to the poor; —
富人拥有的大谷仓，里面有四五十头牛，每年夏季可以生产七八千块奶酪，还有贫穷者拥有的合作奶酪厂; —

these are the peasants of mid-mountain, who hold their cows in common, and share the proceeds. —
这些是中山地区的农民，共同拥有奶牛，并分享收益。 —

`They engage the services of a cheese-maker, whom they call the grurin; —
‘他们雇佣一位奶酪制造者，被称为grurin; —

the grurin receives the milk of the associates three times a day, and marks the quantity on a double tally. —
grurin每天三次接收合作社的牛奶，并在双联票上标记数量。 —

It is towards the end of April that the work of the cheese-dairies begins; —
奶酪厂的工作是在四月末开始的; —

it is towards the middle of June that the cheese-makers drive their cows to the mountains.’
奶酪制造者是在六月中旬把奶牛赶到山上的。’

“The man recovered his animation as he ate. —
“那个人在吃饭的过程中恢复了意识。 —

My brother made him drink that good Mauves wine, which he does not drink himself, because he says that wine is expensive. —
我哥哥让他喝了一些好香醇的Mauves葡萄酒，尽管他自己不喝，因为他说葡萄酒太贵。 —

My brother imparted all these details with that easy gayety of his with which you are acquainted, interspersing his words with graceful attentions to me. —
我哥哥以他的轻松愉快的方式向我解释了这些细节，期间还不时向我致以温柔的关怀。 —

He recurred frequently to that comfortable trade of grurin, as though he wished the man to understand, without advising him directly and harshly, that this would afford him a refuge. —
他经常提到那份舒适的grurin职业，好像他希望那个人明白，不直白、不苛刻地建议，这将成为他的避难所。 —

One thing struck me. This man was what I have told you. —
有一件事让我感受颇深。这个人就是我刚才告诉你的那样。 —

Well, neither during supper, nor during the entire evening, did my brother utter a single word, with the exception of a few words about Jesus when he entered, which could remind the man of what he was, nor of what my brother was. —
嗯，晚餐期间，甚至整个晚上，除了他进来时关于耶稣的几句话，我哥哥一句话也没有提及，那能提醒那个人他是什么样子，也没有提及我哥哥是谁。 —

To all appearances, it was an occasion for preaching him a little sermon, and of impressing the Bishop on the convict, so that a mark of the passage might remain behind. —
从表面上看，这是一个对他进行小讲道的场合，一个让主教与劳工留下印记的时刻。” —

This might have appeared to any one else who had this, unfortunate man in his hands to afford a chance to nourish his soul as well as his body, and to bestow upon him some reproach, seasoned with moralizing and advice, or a little commiseration, with an exhortation to conduct himself better in the future. —
这对于任何一个拥有他这位不幸男子的人来说，可能会给予他一个机会滋养他的灵魂和身体，并对他进行一些斥责，加点道德说教和建议，或是一些怜悯，以及劝诫他未来要表现得更好。 —

My brother did not even ask him from what country he came, nor what was his history. —
我的兄弟甚至没有问他来自哪个国家，或者是什么背景故事。 —

For in his history there is a fault, and my brother seemed to avoid everything which could remind him of it. —
因为在他的背景故事里存在着一个过错，我的兄弟似乎避免一切可能让他想起此事的事物。 —

To such a point did he carry it, that at one time, when my brother was speaking of the mountaineers of Pontarlier, who exercise a gentle labor near heaven, and who, he added, are happy because they are innocent, he stopped short, fearing lest in this remark there might have escaped him something which might wound the man. —
他甚至有点过于小心，有一次，我兄弟在谈到庞塔列山区的山民时，这些人在离天堂不远处轻松地劳动，并因为清白而幸福，他突然停顿下来，担心这句话中可能会有一些让人感到受伤的内容。 —

By dint of reflection, I think I have comprehended what was passing in my brother’s heart. —
经过深思熟虑，我想我理解了我兄弟心中所想。 —

He was thinking, no doubt, that this man, whose name is Jean Valjean, had his misfortune only too vividly present in his mind; —
他可能认为，这个名叫让·瓦尔让的人心中过于活生生地挥之不去他的不幸； —

that the best thing was to divert him from it, and to make him believe, if only momentarily, that he was a person like any other, by treating him just in his ordinary way. —
最好的办法是让他极力忘记，让他短暂地相信，他只是一个普通人，通过以平常的方式对待他来达到这一点。 —

Is not this indeed, to understand charity well? —
这不正是了解慈善的真谛吗？ —

Is there not, dear Madame, something truly evangelical in this delicacy which abstains from sermon, from moralizing, from allusions? —
亲爱的夫人，这种避免说教、道德说教和一切暗示的细腻之处中，难道不包含着真正的福音精神吗？ —

and is not the truest pity, when a man has a sore point, not to touch it at all? —
当一个人有个敏感的问题时，难道不是最真挚的怜悯就是干脆不触及此点吗？ —

It has seemed to me that this might have been my brother’s private thought. —
我觉得这可能是我兄弟的内心想法。 —

In any case, what I can say is that, if he entertained all these ideas, he gave no sign of them; —
无论如何，我可以说的是，如果他怀有所有这些想法，他没有表现出来； —

from beginning to end, even to me he was the same as he is every evening, and he supped with this Jean Valjean with the same air and in the same manner in which he would have supped with M. Gedeon le Provost, or with the curate of the parish.
从头到尾，就连对我来说，他也和每天晚上一样，与这位让·瓦尔让一起进晚餐，以和他和饭的方式和态度，正如他和中肯·勒普罗沃斯先生或者教区牧师一起进晚餐一样。

“Towards the end, when he had reached the figs, there came a knock at the door. —
“快到晚餐快结束时，有人敲门。 —

It was Mother Gerbaud, with her little one in her arms. —
是格尔博母亲，抱着她的孩子进来了。 —

My brother kissed the child on the brow, and borrowed fifteen sous which I had about me to give to Mother Gerbaud. —
我的哥哥亲吻了孩子的额头，并向我借了我身上带的十五索，给了Gerbaud太太。 —

The man was not paying much heed to anything then. —
那个人当时并没有很在意任何事情。 —

He was no longer talking, and he seemed very much fatigued. —
他不再说话，看上去非常疲倦。 —

After poor old Gerbaud had taken her departure, my brother said grace; —
贫苦的老Gerbaud离开后，我的哥哥说了祷告； —

then he turned to the man and said to him, `You must be in great need of your bed.’ —
然后他转向那个人，对他说，“你肯定非常需要你的床了。” —

Madame Magloire cleared the table very promptly. —
Magloire夫人非常迅速地收拾桌子。 —

I understood that we must retire, in order to allow this traveller to go to sleep, and we both went up stairs. —
我明白我们应该退后一步，让这位旅人去休息，我们两人一起上楼了。 —

Nevertheless, I sent Madame Magloire down a moment later, to carry to the man’s bed a goat skin from the Black Forest, which was in my room. —
然而，我随后让Magloire夫人下去，给那个人的床上放了一张黑森林的山羊皮，这是在我的房间里的。 —

The nights are frigid, and that keeps one warm. It is a pity that this skin is old; —
夜晚很寒冷，山羊皮可以保暖。可惜这张皮很旧； —

all the hair is falling out. My brother bought it while he was in Germany, at Tottlingen, near the sources of the Danube, as well as the little ivory-handled knife which I use at table.
所有的毛都脱落了。我哥哥在德国的Tottlingen买的，靠近多瑙河的源头，还有我餐桌上用的小象牙柄小刀。

“Madame Magloire returned immediately. We said our prayers in the drawing-room, where we hang up the linen, and then we each retired to our own chambers, without saying a word to each other.”
“Magloire夫人立刻回来了。我们在放床单的起居室里做了祈祷，然后各自进入自己的卧室，互不说一句话。”