CHATEAU DE SOLLES,
索尔勒城堡，

July 30, 1883.
1883年7月30日。

My Dear Lucy:
亲爱的露西：

I have no news. We live in the drawing-room, looking out at the rain.
我没有消息。我们住在客厅里，望着雨外。 —

We cannot go out in this frightful weather, so we have theatricals.
在这恶劣的天气中我们无法出去，所以我们举办戏剧表演。 —

How stupid they are, my dear, these drawing entertainments in the repertory of real life!
亲爱的，这些表演在真实生活中确实很无聊。一切都是勉强的、粗俗的、沉重的。 —

All is forced, coarse, heavy.
—

The jokes are like cannon balls, smashing everything in their passage. No wit, nothing natural, no sprightliness, no elegance.
那些笑话就像炮弹一样，碾碎了一切。没有机智，没有自然，没有活力，没有优雅。 —

These literary men, in truth, know nothing of society.
这些文人真的对社交一无所知。 —

They are perfectly ignorant of how people think and talk in our set.
他们完全不了解我们这个群体的思维和谈话方式。 —

I do not mind if they despise our customs, our conventionalities, but I do not forgive them for not knowing them.
我不介意他们鄙视我们的习俗、惯例，但我不能原谅他们不了解它们。 —

When they want to be humorous they make puns that would do for a barrack;
当他们想搞笑时，他们说些像兵营里的俚语那样的双关语。 —

when they try to be jolly, they give us jokes that they must have picked up on the outer boulevard in those beer houses artists are supposed to frequent, where one has heard the same students’ jokes for fifty years.
当他们试图开心时，他们给我们讲那些他们肯定是从外滩上那些艺术家常去的啤酒屋听来的笑话，那里的学生笑话已经听了五十年了。

So we have taken to Theatricals. As we are only two women, my husband takes the part of a soubrette, and, in order to do that, he has shaved off his mustache.
所以我们开始搞戏剧了。因为我们只有两个女人，我丈夫扮演一位女丑角，为了能做到这一点，他剃掉了胡子。 —

You cannot imagine, my dear Lucy, how it changes him!
亲爱的露西，你无法想象这样会改变他！ —

I no longer recognize him-by day or at night.
白天和晚上，我都不再认得他。 —

If he did not let it grow again I think I should no longer love him;
如果他不让它再长起来，我想我可能不再爱他了；他看起来太可怕了。 —

he looks so horrid like this.
事实上，一个没有胡子的男人不再是个男人。我不太喜欢胡子；它几乎总让一个人看起来邋遢。

In fact, a man without a mustache is no longer a man.
但是胡子，哦， —

I do not care much for a beard;
胡子对于一个男性的面孔来说是必不可少的。 —

it almost always makes a man look untidy.
—

But a mustache, oh, a mustache is indispensable to a manly face.
一个男人的面容，没有胡子是不完整的。 —

No, you would never believe how these little hair bristles on the upper lip are a relief to the eye and good in other ways.
不，你永远不会相信这些上嘴唇的小毛刺对眼睛是多么的舒缓，而且在其他方面也很好。 —

I have thought over the matter a great deal but hardly dare to write my thoughts.
我曾经深思熟虑了很多，但几乎不敢写出我的想法。 —

Words look so different on paper and the subject is so difficult, so delicate, so dangerous that it requires infinite skill to tackle it.
纸上的文字看起来如此不同，而且这个主题如此困难、微妙、危险，以至于需要无限的技巧来处理它。

Well, when my husband appeared, shaven, I understood at once that I never could fall in love with a strolling actor nor a preacher, even if it were Father Didon, the most charming of all!
好吧，当我丈夫出现时，没胡须，我立刻明白我永远不会爱上一个演员或者传教士，即使是最迷人的迪顿神父！ —

Later when I was alone with him (my husband) it was worse still.
后来当我和他（我的丈夫）独处时，情况更糟了。哦， —

Oh, my dear Lucy, never let yourself be kissed by a man without a mustache;
亲爱的露西，千万别让一个没有胡子的男人亲吻你； —

their kisses have no flavor, none whatever!
他们的吻没有任何味道！ —

They no longer have the charm, the mellowness and the snap —yes, the snap—of a real kiss.
他们不再拥有真正吻的魅力、柔和和冲动 - 是的， —

The mustache is the spice.
冲动 - 胡子是调味品。

Imagine placing to your lips a piece of dry—or moist—parchment.
想象一下将一片干燥或潮湿的羊皮纸放在嘴唇上。 —

That is the kiss of the man without a mustache.
那就是没有胡须的男人的吻。 —

It is not worth while.
不值得。

Whence comes this charm of the mustache, will you tell me? Do I know myself?
这款胡子的魅力从哪里来，你能告诉我吗？难道我自己都不知道吗？ —

It tickles your face, you feel it approaching your mouth and it sends a little shiver through you down to the tips of your toes.
它刺痒着你的脸，你感觉它靠近你的嘴巴，然后一阵微微的寒颤从头尖一直传到脚趾尖。

And on your neck! Have you ever felt a mustache on your neck? It intoxicates you, makes you feel creepy, goes to the tips of your fingers.
还有胡子贴在你的脖子上！你曾经感受过胡子贴在脖子上吗？它让你陶醉，让你感到毛骨悚然，直到指尖。 —

You wriggle, shake your shoulders, toss back your head.
你扭动身体，摇动肩膀，仰头。 —

You wish to get away and at the same time to remain there;
你想要离开，但同时又想继续留在那里； —

it is delightful, but irritating. But how good it is!
它令人愉快，但也让人烦躁。但它是多么美妙啊！

A lip without a mustache is like a body without clothing;
一个没有胡子的嘴唇就像一个没有衣物的身体； —

and one must wear clothes, very few, if you like, but still some clothing.
而人必须穿衣服，不论多少，只要有些衣物。

I recall a sentence (uttered by a politician) which has been running in my mind for three months.
我记得一个句子（由一位政治家说过），这句话在我脑海里已经回荡了三个月。 —

My husband, who keeps up with the newspapers, read me one evening a very singular speech by our Minister of Agriculture, who was called M. Meline.
我的丈夫，他对新闻很关注，有一天晚上给我读了一篇非常奇特的演讲，来自我们的农业部长梅林先生。 —

He may have been superseded by this time. I do not know.
也许他现在已经被换人了。我不知道。

I was paying no attention, but the name Meline struck me.
我完全没有注意，但是名字Meline让我想起了《波希米亚的一生》。 —

It recalled, I do not exactly know why, the ‘Scenes de la vie de boheme’.
我不知道为什么，它就是让我想起了那部作品。 —

I thought it was about some grisette.
我以为它是关于一个灰姑娘的故事。 —

That shows how scraps of the speech entered my mind.
这表明我对话语残片的理解。 —

This M. Meline was making this statement to the people of Amiens, I believe, and I have ever since been trying to understand what he meant:
这个Meline先生是向亚眠市民发表这番声明的，我想了解他的意思。 —

“There is no patriotism without agriculture!” Well, I have just discovered his meaning, and I affirm in my turn that there is no love without a mustache.
“没有农业就没有爱国精神！”嗯，我刚刚明白了他的意思，并且我也断言，没有胡子就没有爱情。 —

When you say it that way it sounds comical, does it not?
以那种方式说起来，是不是听起来很滑稽？

There is no love without a mustache!
没有胡子就没有爱情！

“There is no patriotism without agriculture, ” said M. Meline, and he was right, that minister; I now understand why.
“没有农业就没有爱国精神，” Meline先生说得对，他是个聪明的政府部长；我现在明白了为什么。

From a very different point of view the mustache is essential.
从一个截然不同的角度来看，胡子是必不可少的。 —

It gives character to the face.
它赋予面容个性。 —

It makes a man look gentle, tender, violent, a monster, a rake, enterprising!
它使人看起来温柔、慈祥、暴戾、怪物、花花公子、富有进取心！ —

The hairy man, who does not shave off his whiskers, never has a refined look, for his features are concealed;
留着胡须的多毛男人永远不会有一个精致的外表，因为他的特征被隐藏了起来； —

and the shape of the jaw and the chin betrays a great deal to those who understand.
下巴和下颚的形状向懂行的人透露了很多信息。

The man with a mustache retains his own peculiar expression and his refinement at the same time.
留着胡子的男人保留了自己独特的表情和精细感。

And how many different varieties of mustaches there are!
而胡子有多种不同的样式！ —

Sometimes they are twisted, curled, coquettish.
有时它们是扭曲的、撩人的， —

Those seem to be chiefly devoted to women.
看上去像是为了追求女性而存在。

Sometimes they are pointed, sharp as needles, and threatening. That kind prefers wine, horses and war.
有时它们是尖锐的，像针一样锋利和威胁性。这种类型更钟爱美酒、马匹和战争。

Sometimes they are enormous, overhanging, frightful.
有时候胡子是巨大的，悬挂的，令人害怕的。 —

These big ones generally conceal a fine disposition, a kindliness that borders on weakness and a gentleness that savors of timidity.
这些又长又大的胡子通常隐藏着一种美好的性情，一种接近于脆弱的亲切和接近于胆怯的温和。

But what I adore above all in the mustache is that it is French, altogether French.
但我最喜欢胡子的是它是法国人的，完全是法国人的。 —

It came from our ancestors, the Gauls, and has remained the insignia of our national character.
它来自我们的祖先，高卢人，现在仍然是我们国家特色的标志。

It is boastful, gallant and brave.
它自夸、勇敢，英勇无畏。 —

It sips wine gracefully and knows how to laugh with refinement, while the broad-bearded jaws are clumsy in everything they do.
优雅地品味着红酒，懂得优雅地笑，而它那宽大有胡须的下巴在做任何事情上都笨拙无比。

I recall something that made me weep all my tears and also—I see it now—made me love a mustache on a man’s face.
我记得有一件事让我哭得泪流满面，也让我爱上了男人脸上的胡须。

It was during the war, when I was living with my father.
那是在战争期间，我和父亲生活在一起。 —

I was a young girl then.
那时我还是个年轻的女孩。 —

One day there was a skirmish near the chateau.
一天，战斗在城堡附近爆发了。 —

I had heard the firing of the cannon and of the artillery all the morning, and that evening a German colonel came and took up his abode in our house.
我听到整个早上炮声和火炮的声音，那天晚上一名德国上校来到我们家住下。 —

He left the following day.
他次日离开。

My father was informed that there were a number of dead bodies in the fields.
父亲得知田地里有好几具尸体。 —

He had them brought to our place so that they might be buried together.
他让人将它们带到我们家，这样可以一起埋葬。 —

They were laid all along the great avenue of pines as fast as they brought them in, on both sides of the avenue, and as they began to smell unpleasant, their bodies were covered with earth until the deep trench could be dug.
当他们被带来时，被躺放在了高大的松树大道上，大道两边都有。由于开始有臭味，他们的尸体被盖上土，直到能够挖成深沟。 —

Thus one saw only their heads which seemed to protrude from the clayey earth and were almost as yellow, with their closed eyes.
因此，人们只能看到他们的头，似乎从泥土中伸出来，像他们的闭着的眼睛一样几乎都是黄色的。

I wanted to see them. But when I saw those two rows of frightful faces, I thought I should faint.
我想看看他们。但是当我看到那些可怕的脸孔排成的两行时，我觉得自己快晕倒了。 —

However, I began to look at them, one by one, trying to guess what kind of men these had been.
然而，我开始一个一个地看着他们，试图猜测这些人都是什么样的人。

The uniforms were concealed beneath the earth, and yet immediately, yes, immediately, my dear, I recognized the Frenchmen by their mustache!
军装被埋在地下，但是立刻，是的，立刻，亲爱的人，我凭他们的胡须就认出他们是法国人！

Some of them had shaved on the very day of the battle, as though they wished to be elegant up to the last;
其中一些人在战斗当天刮胡子，似乎想要在最后一刻保持优雅； —

others seemed to have a week’s growth, but all wore the French mustache, very plain, the proud mustache that seems to say:
其他人的胡子似乎已经长了一个星期，但是所有人都留着法国胡子，非常朴素，这种骄傲的胡须似乎在说： —

“Do not take me for my bearded friend, little one; I am a brother.”
“不要把我当做有胡子的朋友，小家伙；我是你的兄弟。”

And I cried, oh, I cried a great deal more than I should if I had not recognized them, the poor dead fellows.
我哭了，哦，我哭得比如果我没有认出他们的话要多得多，那些可怜的死去的人。

It was wrong of me to tell you this.
我说了这些是错的。现在我很伤心， —

Now I am sad and cannot chatter any
不能再唠叨了。

longer. Well, good-by, dear Lucy. I send you a hearty kiss. Long live
较长的。好吧，亲爱的露西，我寄给你一个热情的吻。长命健康。

the mustache!
胡子！

JEANNE.
珍娜。