Madame, you ask me whether I am laughing at you?
女士，你问我是否嘲笑你？ —

You cannot believe that a man has never been in love.
你无法相信一个男人从未恋爱过。好吧， —

Well, then, no, no, I have never loved, never!
不，我从未爱过，从未！

Why is this? I really cannot tell.
为什么呢？我真的说不清楚。 —

I have never experienced that intoxication of the heart which we call love!
我从未体验过我们所称之为爱的心灵醉酒！ —

Never have I lived in that dream, in that exaltation, in that state of madness into which the image of a woman casts us.
我从未生活在那样的梦幻中，那种陶醉中，那种被女人的形象所投射的疯狂状态。 —

I have never been pursued, haunted, roused to fever heat, lifted up to Paradise by the thought of meeting, or by the possession of, a being who had suddenly become for me more desirable than any good fortune, more beautiful than any other creature, of more consequence than the whole world!
我从未被追逐、困扰、被一种使我热血沸腾的狂热所激发，被一个突然变得比任何好运更令人渴望，比任何其他生物更美丽，比整个世界更重要的人所拥有！ —

I have never wept, I have never suffered on account of any of you.
我从未为你们中的任何人哭泣，我从未因她而受苦。 —

I have not passed my nights sleepless, while thinking of her.
我没有失眠的夜晚，想着她。 —

I have no experience of waking thoughts bright with thought and memories of her.
我没有清醒时闪烁着对她的思考和回忆的经验。 —

I have never known the wild rapture of hope before her arrival, or the divine sadness of regret when she went from me, leaving behind her a delicate odor of violet powder.
我以前从未体验过希望的狂喜，也从未体会过她离开时的神圣悲伤，留下一丝紫罗兰粉的淡香。

I have never been in love.
我从未坠入爱河。

I have also often asked myself why this is.
我常常问自己为什么会如此。确实， —

And truly I can scarcely tell.
我难以确切说出原因。 —

Nevertheless I have found some reasons for it;
尽管如此，我还是找到了一些原因； —

but they are of a metaphysical character, and perhaps you will not be able to appreciate them.
但它们属于形而上的性质，也许你无法理解。

I suppose I am too critical of women to submit to their fascination.
我想我对女性太过挑剔，无法屈服于她们的魅力。 —

I ask you to forgive me for this remark.
请原谅我这句话。 —

I will explain what I mean.
我会解释我的意思。 —

In every creature there is a moral being and a physical being.
每个生物都有一个道德存在和一个物质存在。 —

In order to love, it would be necessary for me to find a harmony between these two beings which I have never found.
为了去爱，我必须找到这两个存在之间的和谐，但我从未找到过。 —

One always predominates; sometimes the moral, sometimes the physical.
总是有一个占主导地位，有时是道德存在，有时是物质存在。

The intellect which we have a right to require in a woman, in order to love her, is not the same as the virile intellect.
我们可以要求女人具备一定的智力，以便爱她们，但这种智力与男子气概的智力不同。 —

It is more, and it is less.
它更多，也更少。 —

A woman must be frank, delicate, sensitive, refined, impressionable.
一个女人必须真诚、细腻、敏感、精致、易受感召。 —

She has no need of either power or initiative in thought, but she must have kindness, elegance, tenderness, coquetry and that faculty of assimilation which, in a little while, raises her to an equality with him who shares her life.
她既不需要权力，也不需要思维上的主动性，但她必须拥有善良、优雅、温柔、媚态和那种能够使她与与她共度一生的人平等对待的融 assimilation 能力。 —

Her greatest quality must be tact, that subtle sense which is to the mind what touch is to the body.
她最伟大的品质必须是机敏，那种对于思维来说就像触觉对于身体一样的微妙感觉。 —

It reveals to her a thousand little things, contours, angles and forms on the plane of the intellectual.
它向她展示了一千种微小的事物，轮廓、角度和在智力层面上的形式。

Very frequently pretty women have not intellect to correspond with their personal charms.
非常频繁地，漂亮的女人并没有与她们个人魅力相符的智力。 —

Now, the slightest lack of harmony strikes me and pains me at the first glance.
现在，我对于最微小的不协调感觉敏感，第一眼就感到痛苦。 —

In friendship this is not of importance.
在友谊中这并不重要。 —

Friendship is a compact in which one fairly shares defects and merits.
友谊是一种契约，在其中一个人公平地分享缺点和优点。 —

We may judge of friends, whether man or woman, giving them credit for what is good, and overlooking what is bad in them, appreciating them at their just value, while giving ourselves up to an intimate, intense and charming sympathy.
我们可以评判朋友，无论男女，看重他们的好处，忽略他们的不足之处，正当地欣赏他们，同时给予我们自己一种亲密、强烈和迷人的同情。

In order to love, one must be blind, surrender one’s self absolutely, see nothing, question nothing, understand nothing.
要去爱，就必须是盲目的，完全地投降自己，什么都看不见，什么都不质疑，什么都不明白。 —

One must adore the weakness as well as the beauty of the beloved object, renounce all judgment, all reflection, all perspicacity.
必须崇拜爱人的脆弱与美丽，放弃一切判断、思考和洞察力。

I am incapable of such blindness and rebel at unreasoning subjugation.
我没有这种盲目和叛逆无理的服从。还不止这样。 —

This is not all.
—

I have such a high and subtle idea of harmony that nothing can ever fulfill my ideal.
我对和谐有着如此高而微妙的理念，所以没有什么能够满足我的理想。 —

But you will call me a madman.
但你会称我为疯子。 —

Listen to me.
请听我说。 —

A woman, in my opinion, may have an exquisite soul and charming body without that body and that soul being in perfect harmony with one another.
在我看来，一个女人可以拥有精美的灵魂和迷人的身体，但是身体和灵魂之间并不一定完美地和谐。 —

I mean that persons who have noses made in a certain shape should not be expected to think in a certain fashion.
我的意思是那些有特定鼻形的人不应该期望他们以某种方式思考。 —

The fat have no right to make use of the same words and phrases as the thin.
胖人没有权利使用与瘦人相同的词语和短语。 —

You, who have blue eyes, madame, cannot look at life and judge of things and events as if you had black eyes.
女士，你有蓝色的眼睛，不能像你有黑色眼睛一样观察生活并评判事物和事件。 —

The shade of your eyes should correspond, by a sort of fatality, with the shade of your thought.
你眼睛的颜色应该与你的思想的颜色相应地一致，几乎是命中注定的。 —

In perceiving these things, I have the scent of a bloodhound.
在感知这些事物时，我像一只猎犬一样敏锐。 —

Laugh if you like, but it is so.
你可以笑，但情况却是这样。

And yet, once I imagined that I was in love for an hour, for a day.
然而，有一次我曾经想过我爱上了一个小时，一天。 —

I had foolishly yielded to the influence of surrounding circumstances.
我愚蠢地屈从于周围环境的影响。 —

I allowed myself to be beguiled by a mirage of Dawn. Would you like me to tell you this short story?
我被黎明的幻景所迷惑。你想听我讲这个简短的故事吗？

I met, one evening, a pretty, enthusiastic little woman who took a poetic fancy to spend a night with me in a boat on a river.
有一天晚上，我遇到了一个漂亮、热情的小女人，她异想天开地提议与我在一条河上的船上过夜。 —

I would have preferred a room and a bed;
我宁愿选择一个房间和一张床； —

however, I consented to the river and the boat.
然而，我同意了在河上的船。

It was in the month of June. My fair companion chose a moonlight night in order the better to stimulate her imagination.
那是在六月份。我的美丽伴侣选择了一个月光如练的夜晚，以更好地刺激她的想象力。

We had dined at a riverside inn and set out in the boat about ten o’clock.
我们在一家河边客栈吃过晚餐，大约十点钟才出发在船上。 —

I thought it a rather foolish kind of adventure, but as my companion pleased me I did not worry about it.
我觉得这是一个相当愚蠢的冒险，但因为我的伙伴使我高兴，我并不担心。 —

I sat down on the seat facing her;
我坐在面对她的座位上； —

I seized the oars, and off we starred.
我抓住桨，我们开始出发。

I could not deny that the scene was picturesque.
我不能否认这个场景是如此的美丽。 —

We glided past a wooded isle full of nightingales, and the current carried us rapidly over the river covered with silvery ripples.
我们滑过一个长满夜莺的树木小岛，急流带着我们迅速穿过银光闪烁的河面。 —

The tree toads uttered their shrill, monotonous cry;
树蛙发出尖锐、单调的叫声； —

the frogs croaked in the grass by the river’s bank, and the lapping of the water as it flowed on made around us a kind of confused murmur almost imperceptible, disquieting, and gave us a vague sensation of mysterious fear.
靠河岸的草地上青蛙呱呱地叫着，水流的拍打声在我们周围形成一种几乎察觉不到却又令人不安的混乱低语，给我们一种神秘的恐惧感。

The sweet charm of warm nights and of streams glittering in the moonlight penetrated us.
温暖夜晚和月光下闪烁的小溪的美妙魅力渗透着我们的心灵。 —

It was delightful to be alive and to float along thus, and to dream and to feel at one’s side a sympathetic and beautiful young woman.
活着并且如此漂浮着，做梦的感觉，身旁还有一位有同情心又美丽的年轻女子，真是令人愉快。

I was somewhat affected, somewhat agitated, somewhat intoxicated by the pale brightness of the night and the consciousness of my proximity to a lovely woman.
我受到了一些影响，有些烦躁，也有些陶醉于夜晚的苍白明亮和与一位可爱女性的亲近意识。

“Come and sit beside me,” she said.
“来坐在我旁边”，她说道。

I obeyed.
我遵从了她的话。

She went on:
她继续说道：

“Recite some poetry for me.”
“给我朗诵一些诗吧。”

This appeared to be rather too much.
这似乎有些过分。我拒绝了， —

I declined; she persisted.
但她坚持。 —

She certainly wanted to play the game, to have a whole orchestra of sentiment, from the moon to the rhymes of poets.
她显然想要玩这个游戏，想要从月亮到诗人的韵律，拥有整个情感交响乐团。 —

In the end I had to yield, and, as if in mockery, I repeated to her a charming little poem by Louis Bouilhet, of which the following are the last verses:
最后，我不得不屈服了，如同在嘲弄一般，我给她重复 recited 了一首由路易斯·布依耶创作的迷人小诗，以下是最后几句：

“I hate the poet who with tearful eye
“我讨厌那些带着泪眼的诗人

Murmurs some name while gazing tow’rds a star,
朝着星星低声吟唱某个名字，

Who sees no magic in the earth or sky,
除非丽泽特或妮儿不在附近，

Unless Lizette or Ninon be not far.
否则他对大地或天空不会产生任何魔力。

“The bard who in all Nature nothing sees
“那些只把女子视为神圣，

Divine, unless a petticoat he ties
除非把一个裙子挂在树上的枝条

Amorously to the branches of the trees
这样热切地才不会看到大自然中的一切魅力。”

Or nightcap to the grass, is scarcely wise.
或者说在草地上喝烈酒并不明智。

“He has not heard the Eternal’s thunder tone,
“他从未听到永恒的雷声，

The voice of Nature in her various moods,
大自然的声音在她各种不同的情绪中，

Who cannot tread the dim ravines alone,
踏着幽暗的峡谷独行的人，

And of no woman dream mid whispering woods.”
并且在低语的树林中不曾梦见过任何女人。”

I expected some reproaches.
我预料会有些责备。 —

Nothing of the sort. She murmured:
但她没有。她喃喃自语道：

“How true it is!”
“这是多么真实！”

I was astonished. Had she understood?
我吃惊了。她理解了吗？

Our boat had gradually approached the bank and become entangled in the branches of a willow which impeded its progress.
我们的小船逐渐靠近岸边，并被垂柳的枝丛缠住，阻碍了前进。 —

I placed my arm round my companion’s waist, and very gently approached my lips towards her neck.
我把手臂搭在伴侣的腰上，非常温柔地靠近她的脖子。 —

But she repulsed me with an abrupt, angry movement.
但她用急躁、愤怒的动作抵挡了我。

“Have done, pray! How rude you are!”
“拜托，不要这样！你多么无礼！”

I tried to draw her toward me. She resisted, caught hold of the tree, and was near flinging us both into the water.
我试图拉她靠近我。她抵抗着，抓住树木，几乎要把我们都推入水中。 —

I deemed it prudent to cease my importunities.
我觉得停止劝说是明智的。

She said:
她说：

“I would rather capsize you. I feel so happy.
“我宁愿将你弄翻。我感觉如此幸福。 —

I want to dream. This is so delightful.” Then, in a slightly malicious tone, she added:
我想做个梦。这太美妙了。”然后，她略带恶意的口气补充道：

“Have you already forgotten the verses you repeated to me just now?”
“你刚才背给我的诗还记得吗？”

She was right. I became silent.
她是对的。我沉默了。

She went on:
她继续说：

“Come, now!”
“来吧！”

And I plied the oars once more.
我又划起了桨。

I began to think the night long and my position ridiculous.
我开始觉得这个夜晚漫长而我的处境荒谬。

My companion said to me:
我的同伴对我说：

“Will you make me a promise?”
“你能给我一个承诺吗？”

“Yes. What is it?”
“可以。什么承诺？”

“To remain quiet, well-behaved and discreet, if I permit you—”
“如果我允许你的话，保持安静、规矩和谨慎。”

“What? Say what you mean!”
“什么？说清楚！”

“Here is what I mean: I want to lie down on my back at the bottom of the boat with you by my side.
“我是这个意思：我想躺在船底仰卧着，你在我身边。 —

But I forbid you to touch me, to embrace me —in short—to caress me.”
但我禁止你碰我，拥抱我——总之——抚摸我。”

I promised. She said warningly:
我答应了。她警告地说：

“If you move, ‘I’ll capsize the boat.”
“如果你动，‘我会让船翻倒。”

And then we lay down side by side, our eyes turned toward the sky, while the boat glided slowly through the water.
然后我们并肩躺下，眼睛朝向天空，船慢慢在水中滑行。 —

We were rocked by its gentle motion.
我们被它轻柔的晃动所摇动。 —

The slight sounds of the night came to us more distinctly in the bottom of the boat, sometimes causing us to start.
夜晚微弱的声音在船底更加清晰地传到我们耳中，有时使我们惊起。 —

And I felt springing up within me a strange, poignant emotion, an infinite tenderness, something like an irresistible impulse to open my arms in order to embrace, to open my heart in order to love, to give myself, to give my thoughts, my body, my life, my entire being to some one.
我内心涌动起一种奇怪而尖锐的情感，一种无限的温柔，一种不可抗拒的冲动，想要张开双臂去拥抱，打开心扉去爱，把自己，把思绪，把身体，把生命，把整个人都献给某个人。

My companion murmured, like one in a dream:
我的同伴像在梦中低声说道：

“Where are we; Where are we going?
“我们在哪里？我们要去哪里？ —

It seems to me that I am leaving the earth.
我感觉好像离开了地球。太美妙了！ —

How sweet it is! Ah, if you loved me—a little!!!”
啊，如果你爱我——哪怕一点点!!!”

My heart began to throb. I had no answer to give.
我的心开始跳动。我无话可说。 —

It seemed to me that I loved her.
我觉得我爱她。 —

I had no longer any violent desire.
我不再有强烈的欲望。 —

I felt happy there by her side, and that was enough for me.
在她身边我感到幸福，这对我来说已足够。

And thus we remained for a long, long time without stirring.
很久很久，我们就这样彼此牵手呆在那里； —

We had clasped each other’s hands;
—

some delightful force rendered us motionless, an unknown force stronger than ourselves, an alliance, chaste, intimate, absolute, of our beings lying there side by side, belonging to each other without contact.
一种美妙的力量让我们动弹不得，一种未知的比我们更强大的力量，一种纯洁、亲密、绝对的联结，我们的存在彼此并列，没有接触； —

What was this? How do I know? Love, perhaps?
这是什么？我怎么知道？也许是爱？

Little by little the dawn appeared.
渐渐地，黎明出现了。 —

It was three o’clock in the morning.
那是上午三点钟。 —

Slowly a great brightness spread over the sky.
一道明亮的光慢慢笼罩整个天空。 —

The boat knocked up against something. I rose up.
小船撞到了什么东西。我起身。 —

We had come close to a tiny islet.
我们靠近了一个小小的小岛。

But I remained enchanted, in an ecstasy.
但我陶醉其中，陷入了狂喜。 —

Before us stretched the firmament, red, pink, violet, spotted with fiery clouds resembling golden vapor.
在我们面前延展着红色、粉红色、紫色的天空，点缀着金色蒸汽般的燃烧云彩。 —

The river was glowing with purple and three houses on one side of it seemed to be burning.
江水闪耀着紫色，河岸一边的三座房子似乎在燃烧。

I bent toward my companion. I was going to say, “Oh! look!
我俯身靠近我的伴侣。我本想说：“哦！看！ —

” But I held my tongue, quite dazed, and I could no longer see anything except her.
”但我忍住不说，完全恍惚，我再也看不到其他任何东西，只看到了她。 —

She, too, was rosy, with rosy flesh tints with a deeper tinge that was partly a reflection of the hue of the sky.
她的皮肤也很红润，有着玫瑰色的血色，深邃的颜色部分来自天空的色调倒映。 —

Her tresses were rosy;
她的发丝也是玫瑰色的。 —

her eyes were rosy; her teeth were rosy; her dress, her laces, her smile, all were rosy.
她的眼睛是玫瑰色的；她的牙齿是玫瑰色的；她的服装、花边和微笑，全都是玫瑰色的。 —

And in truth I believed, so overpowering was the illusion, that the dawn was there in the flesh before me.
事实上，我深信，如此强烈的错觉，黎明就在我的面前呈现出来。

She rose softly to her feet, holding out her lips to me;
她轻轻地站起身来，向我伸出嘴唇； —

and I moved toward her, trembling, delirious feeling indeed that I was going to kiss Heaven, to kiss happiness, to kiss a dream that had become a woman, to kiss the ideal which had descended into human flesh.
我颤抖着向她走去，疯狂的感觉到我要亲吻天堂，亲吻幸福，亲吻一个变成女人的梦想，亲吻那个降临到凡尘的理想。

She said to me: “You have a caterpillar in your hair.
她对我说：“你的头发上有一只毛毛虫。”突然间， —

” And, suddenly, I felt as sad as if I had lost all hope in life.
我感到像失去了生活中所有的希望一样悲伤。

That is all, madame. It is puerile, silly, stupid.
就是这样，夫人。这太幼稚、愚蠢、愚笨了。 —

But I am sure that since that day it would be impossible for me to love.
但我确信，自从那天以来，我将不可能再去爱。然而， —

And yet—who can tell?
谁能说得准呢？

[The young man upon whom this letter was found was yesterday taken out of the Seine between Bougival and Marly. An obliging bargeman, who had searched the pockets in order to ascertain the name of the deceased, brought this paper to the author.]
1，[在昨天，有人在布吉瓦尔和马尔利之间的塞纳河中发现了这封信的年轻男子。一位好心的驳船工人为了确认死者的姓名而搜查了口袋，将这张纸交给了作者。]