This is what the old Marquis d’Arville told us after St. Hubert’s dinner at the house of the Baron des Ravels.
这是老侯爵阿维尔在巴龙德拉瓦尔男爵家的圣休伯特晚宴后告诉我们的。

We had killed a stag that day.
那天我们打死了一只雄鹿。 —

The marquis was the only one of the guests who had not taken part in this chase.
侯爵是唯一没有参与这次猎杀的客人。 —

He never hunted.
他从不打猎。

During that long repast we had talked about hardly anything but the slaughter of animals.
在那漫长的宴会中，我们几乎只谈论杀戮动物的事情。 —

The ladies themselves were interested in bloody and exaggerated tales, and the orators imitated the attacks and the combats of men against beasts, raised their arms, romanced in a thundering voice.
女士们也对血腥而夸张的故事感兴趣，演说家们模仿男人对抗野兽的攻击和战斗，举起双臂，用震天的声音夸大其词。

M. d Arville talked well, in a certain flowery, high-sounding, but effective style.
阿维尔先生说话能力很强，用一种华丽而妖艳的风格，但却很有效。 —

He must have told this story frequently, for he told it fluently, never hesitating for words, choosing them with skill to make his description vivid.
他一定经常讲这个故事，因为他讲得很流利，从不犹豫选择用词，以使描述更加生动。

Gentlemen, I have never hunted, neither did my father, nor my grandfather, nor my great-grandfather.
先生们，我从未打过猎，我的父亲也未曾，我的祖父和曾祖父也是如此。 —

This last was the son of a man who hunted more than all of you put together.
最后一个是一个比你们所有人加在一起还打猎的人的儿子。 —

He died in 1764. I will tell you the story of his death.
他在1764年去世。我将告诉你关于他去世的故事。

His name was Jean. He was married, father of that child who became my great-grandfather, and he lived with his younger brother, Francois d’Arville, in our castle in Lorraine, in the midst of the forest.
他的名字叫让(Jean)。他已婚，是我的曾祖父，和他的弟弟弗朗索瓦( Francois d’Arville)一起住在我们洛林的城堡中，在森林中。

Francois d’Arville had remained a bachelor for love of the chase.
弗朗索瓦( Francois d’Arville)为了热爱打猎而一直单身。

They both hunted from one end of the year to the other, without stopping and seemingly without fatigue.
他们俩一年到头打猎，毫不停歇，似乎也不疲倦。 —

They loved only hunting, understood nothing else, talked only of that, lived only for that.
他们只热爱打猎，对其他什么都不懂，只谈论那个，只为那个活着。

They had at heart that one passion, which was terrible and inexorable.
他们心中只有那个可怕而无情的激情。 —

It consumed them, had completely absorbed them, leaving room for no other thought.
它把他们消耗殆尽，完全吞噬了他们，不留给其他任何思考的空间。

They had given orders that they should not be interrupted in the chase for any reason whatever.
他们已经下令，无论什么原因都不许打扰他们的打猎。 —

My great-grandfather was born while his father was following a fox, and Jean d’Arville did not stop the chase, but exclaimed:
我的曾祖父在他的父亲追猎一只狐狸时出生的，而让(Jean)·达维尔却没有停下打猎，而是大叫道： —

“The deuce! The rascal might have waited till after the view —halloo!”
“真见鬼！这家伙竟然不等到瞄准好再走——呵呼！”

His brother Francois was still more infatuated.
他的弟弟弗朗索瓦更加迷恋。 —

On rising he went to see the dogs, then the horses, then he shot little birds about the castle until the time came to hunt some large game.
起床后他去看狗，然后去看马，接着他在城堡周围射杀小鸟，直到到了打猎大型猎物的时间。

In the countryside they were called M. le Marquis and M. le Cadet, the nobles then not being at all like the chance nobility of our time, which wishes to establish an hereditary hierarchy in titles;
在农村，他们被称为马基斯先生和幼子先生，那时候的贵族与我们现在的偶然贵族完全不同，后者希望建立一个世袭的头衔等级制度； —

for the son of a marquis is no more a count, nor the son of a viscount a baron, than a son of a general is a colonel by birth.
因为子爵的儿子并不比伯爵的儿子更是一个子爵，正如将军的儿子并非因出生就是上校。 —

But the contemptible vanity of today finds profit in that arrangement.
但现今这种可鄙的虚荣心从中获利。

My ancestors were unusually tall, bony, hairy, violent and vigorous.
我的祖先个个高大、骨瘦如柴、多毛、粗暴而充满活力。 —

The younger, still taller than the older, had a voice so strong that, according to a legend of which he was proud, all the leaves of the forest shook when he shouted.
年幼的弟弟比哥哥还高，他的嗓音非常浑厚，根据他引以为傲的传说，当他大喊时整片森林的叶子都会颤动。

When they were both mounted to set out hunting, it must have been a superb sight to see those two giants straddling their huge horses.
当他们两个人骑上巨大的马出去打猎时，那肯定是一幅壮观的景象。

Now, toward the midwinter of that year, 1764, the frosts were excessive, and the wolves became ferocious.
那年的冬天已经临近中期，1764年，寒冷异常，狼群变得凶猛。

They even attacked belated peasants, roamed at night outside the houses, howled from sunset to sunrise, and robbed the stables.
它们甚至袭击迟迟回家的农民，夜间在房屋外徘徊，从日落到日出嚎叫，并且劫掠马厩。

And soon a rumor began to circulate.
很快，一则传言开始传播。 —

People talked of a colossal wolf with gray fur, almost white, who had eaten two children, gnawed off a woman’s arm, strangled all the watch dogs in the district, and even come without fear into the farmyards.
人们谈论着一只巨大的灰色狼，几乎白色，它吃掉了两个孩子，咬断了一名妇女的手臂，勒死了该地区所有的看门狗，甚至毫不畏惧地进入了农场。 —

The people in the houses affirmed that they had felt his breath, and that it made the flame of the lights flicker.
住在房子里的人声称他们感受到了它的呼吸，而且这呼吸使灯光的火焰颤动了。 —

And soon a panic ran through all the province.
很快，一股恐慌席卷了整个省份。 —

No one dared go out any more after nightfall.
没人再敢在天黑后外出。 —

The darkness seemed haunted by the image of the beast.
暗夜似乎被这个野兽的形象所笼罩。

The brothers d’Arville determined to find and kill him, and several times they brought together all the gentlemen of the country to a great hunt.
d’Arville兄弟决定找到并杀死它，他们几次集结该地区的绅士们进行了大型狩猎。

They beat the forests and searched the coverts in vain;
他们搜遍森林，搜索了所有的隐秘处， —

they never met him. They killed wolves, but not that one.
但他们从未见到他。他们杀了许多狼，却没有杀到那只。 —

And every night after a battue the beast, as if to avenge himself, attacked some traveller or killed some one’s cattle, always far from the place where they had looked for him.
每天晚上，猎场结束后，野兽好像在报复一样，攻击某位旅行者或者杀死某只牲口，总是远离他们原本搜索的地方。

Finally, one night he stole into the pigpen of the Chateau d’Arville and ate the two fattest pigs.
最后，有一天晚上，他潜入了达维尔城堡的猪栏，吃掉了最肥的两头猪。

The brothers were roused to anger, considering this attack as a direct insult and a defiance.
兄弟们被这次攻击激怒了，认为这是对他们的直接侮辱和挑衅。 —

They took their strong bloodhounds, used to pursue dangerous animals, and they set off to hunt, their hearts filled with rage.
他们带着习惯追击危险动物的猎犬，满怀愤怒地出发去追猎。

From dawn until the hour when the empurpled sun descended behind the great naked trees, they beat the woods without finding anything.
从黎明到耀眼的太阳在裸露的大树后落下的时候，他们在森林中搜寻了一天，却一无所获。

At last, furious and disgusted, both were returning, walking their horses along a lane bordered with hedges, and they marvelled that their skill as huntsmen should be baffled by this wolf, and they were suddenly seized with a mysterious fear.
最后，愤怒和厌恶，两人骑着马沿着一条有篱笆的小路返回，他们惊叹于他们作为猎人的技术竟会被这只狼拒于门外，并突然被一种神秘的恐惧所困扰。

The elder said:
长老说：

“That beast is not an ordinary one.
“那个野兽不是普通的。 —

You would say it had a mind like a man.”
你会说它有一个如人般的心智。”

The younger answered:
年轻人回答道：

“Perhaps we should have a bullet blessed by our cousin, the bishop, or pray some priest to pronounce the words which are needed.”
“也许我们应该祝福一颗子弹，用我们堂兄主教的方式，或者祈求一些神父宣读所需的言辞。”

Then they were silent.
然后他们沉默了。

Jean continued:
让继续说道：

“Look how red the sun is.
“看太阳是多么红。 —

The great wolf will do some harm to-night.”
今晚那只巨大的狼会造成一些危害。”

He had hardly finished speaking when his horse reared;
他话还没说完，他的马就后腿直立起来； —

that of Franqois began to kick.
弗朗索瓦的马开始踢蹄。 —

A large thicket covered with dead leaves opened before them, and a mammoth beast, entirely gray, jumped up and ran off through the wood.
一片满是枯叶的大灌木丛在他们面前打开，一只全身灰色的巨兽跳了起来，穿过树林跑了开去。

Both uttered a kind of grunt of joy, and bending over the necks of their heavy horses, they threw them forward with an impulse from all their body, hurling them on at such a pace, urging them, hurrying them away, exciting them so with voice and with gesture and with spur that the experienced riders seemed to be carrying the heavy beasts between their thighs and to bear them off as if they were flying.
两人都发出一种喜悦的呼噜声，身体前倾，嘴紧贴着他们沉重的马颈，用全身的力量一起向前甩出去，以如此速度冲刺，用声音、手势和踢腿鞭策着它们，让经验丰富的骑手仿佛将这些沉重的野兽夹在大腿间，一飞冲天般地带着它们离开。

Thus they went, plunging through the thickets, dashing across the beds of streams, climbing the hillsides, descending the gorges, and blowing the horn as loud as they could to attract their people and the dogs.
于是他们冲过丛林，穿越溪流，攀登山坡，下降峡谷，尽力吹响号角吸引他们的人和狗群。

And now, suddenly, in that mad race, my ancestor struck his forehead against an enormous branch which split his skull;
突然，在那场疯狂的追逐中，我的祖先的前额撞到一根巨大的树枝上，脑袋被劈开了。 —

and he fell dead on the ground, while his frightened horse took himself off, disappearing in the gloom which enveloped the woods.
他倒在地上，死去了，而受惊的马则消失在覆盖着树林的黑暗中。

The younger d’Arville stopped quick, leaped to the earth, seized his brother in his arms, and saw that the brains were escaping from the wound with the blood.
年轻的达维尔跳下马，抱起他的兄弟，看到脑浆和血液从伤口中流出。

Then he sat down beside the body, rested the head, disfigured and red, on his knees, and waited, regarding the immobile face of his elder brother.
然后他坐在尸体旁，将那张被丑化和染红的头放在膝上，等待着，凝视着他的哥哥那张毫不动容的面孔。 —

Little by little a fear possessed him, a strange fear which he had never felt before, the fear of the dark, the fear of loneliness, the fear of the deserted wood, and the fear also of the weird wolf who had just killed his brother to avenge himself upon them both.
渐渐地, 他被一种恐惧所占据，一种他从未感受过的奇怪恐惧，害怕黑暗，害怕孤独，害怕荒芜的树林，还害怕刚刚为了复仇而杀死他的兄弟的可怕狼。

The gloom thickened; the acute cold made the trees crack.
阴暗加深，寒冷使得树木裂开。 —

Francois got up, shivering, unable to remain there longer, feeling himself growing faint.
弗朗索瓦瑟震颤着站起来，无法再待在那里，感觉自己要晕倒了。 —

Nothing was to be heard, neither the voice of the dogs nor the sound of the horns-all was silent along the invisible horizon;
什么声音都听不到，狗的叫声也没有，号角的声音也没有-整个无形的地平线上一片寂静； —

and this mournful silence of the frozen night had something about it terrific and strange.
而这寒冷的夜晚哀愁的沉默带有一种可怕而奇异的感觉。

He seized in his immense hands the great body of Jean, straightened it, and laid it across the saddle to carry it back to the chateau;
他用自己庞大的双手抓住让的巨大身体，整理好后放在马鞍上，准备把它带回庄园； —

then he went on his way softly, his mind troubled as if he were in a stupor, pursued by horrible and fear-giving images.
然后他继续无声地前行，思绪困扰得就像陷入了麻痹状态，被可怕而令人恐惧的影像追逐着。

And all at once, in the growing darkness a great shape crossed his path.
突然间，在漆黑的夜色中，一个庞大的身影横在他的面前。 —

It was the beast. A shock of terror shook the hunter;
那是野兽。恐怖的冲击把猎人惊吓得瑟瑟发抖； —

something cold, like a drop of water, seemed to glide down his back, and, like a monk haunted of the devil, he made a great sign of the cross, dismayed at this abrupt return of the horrible prowler.
有一种冰冷的感觉，就像一滴水滑过他的背，像被魔鬼缠身的修道士一样，他做了一个十字架的手势，对这可怕的潜行者的突然回归感到惊愕。 —

But his eyes fell again on the inert body before him, and passing abruptly from fear to anger, he shook with an indescribable rage.
然而，他的目光再次落在他眼前的无力身体上，由于恐惧转变为愤怒，他愤怒地颤抖着。

Then he spurred his horse and rushed after the wolf.
然后他催动马匹，冲向狼。

He followed it through the copses, the ravines, and the tall trees, traversing woods which he no longer recognized, his eyes fixed on the white speck which fled before him through the night.
他跟随着它穿过树丛，沟壑和高大的树木，穿过他已经不再认得的森林，眼睛注视着在黑夜中和他脚下逃离的白点。

His horse also seemed animated by a force and strength hitherto unknown.
他的马也好像被一种前所未有的力量和力量所驱使。 —

It galloped straight ahead with outstretched neck, striking against trees, and rocks, the head and the feet of the dead man thrown across the saddle.
马以伸长的脖子笔直前冲，撞上树木和岩石，人死尸体被抛在鞍座上，头和脚都悬挂在鞍子上。 —

The limbs tore out his hair; the brow, beating the huge trunks, spattered them with blood;
四肢撕扯他的头发；眉毛碰撞着巨大的树干，溅满了它们的血； —

the spurs tore their ragged coats of bark.
马刺撕碎了它们破烂的树皮外衣。 —

Suddenly the beast and the horseman issued from the forest and rushed into a valley, just as the moon appeared above the mountains.
突然，野兽和骑士冲出森林，冲向一个山谷，就在月亮从山上升起的时候。 —

The valley here was stony, inclosed by enormous rocks.
这个山谷是由巨大的岩石围起来的，石头块石。

Francois then uttered a yell of joy which the echoes repeated like a peal of thunder, and he leaped from his horse, his cutlass in his hand.
弗朗索瓦斯发出一声欢呼，回声如雷的重复着，他从马上跳了下来，刀剑握在手中。

The beast, with bristling hair, the back arched, awaited him, its eyes gleaming like two stars.
野兽浑身竖毛，背脊挺起，等待着他，眼睛闪烁着两颗星星般的光芒。 —

But, before beginning battle, the strong hunter, seizing his brother, seated him on a rock, and, placing stones under his head, which was no more than a mass of blood, he shouted in the ears as if he was talking to a deaf man:
但在开始战斗之前，强壮的猎人抓住他的兄弟，将他坐在一块岩石上，把石头放在他那满是鲜血的头下，他像对待一个聋子一样大声喊道： —

“Look, Jean; look at this!”
“看啊，让，看看这个！”

Then he attacked the monster.
然后他向怪物发起攻击。 —

He felt himself strong enough to overturn a mountain, to bruise stones in his hands.
他感觉自己足够强大，可以推翻一座山，用手捣碎石头。 —

The beast tried to bite him, aiming for his stomach;
野兽试图咬他，瞄准着他的肚子； —

but he had seized the fierce animal by the neck, without even using his weapon, and he strangled it gently, listening to the cessation of breathing in its throat and the beatings of its heart.
但他已经紧抓住那只凶猛的动物的脖子，甚至没有使用武器，就把它轻轻地掐死，倾听着它喉咙里呼吸的停止和心脏的跳动。 —

He laughed, wild with joy, pressing closer and closer his formidable embrace, crying in a delirium of joy, “Look, Jean, look!
他笑了，狂喜之中，更紧紧地拥抱着，欣喜若狂地喊道：“看啊，让，看啊！ —

” All resistance ceased;
所有的抵抗都停止了； —

the body of the wolf became limp.
狼的身体变得松软。 —

He was dead.
它死了。

Francois took him up in his arms and carried him to the feet of the elder brother, where he laid him, repeating, in a tender voice:
弗朗索瓦将他抱起来，把他放在哥哥的脚边，用温柔的声音重复说道： —

“There, there, there, my little Jean, see him!”
“在那里，在那里，在那里，我的小让，看着他！”

Then he replaced on the saddle the two bodies, one upon the other, and rode away.
然后他把两具尸体一起放回马鞍上，骑走了。

He returned to the chateau, laughing and crying, like Gargantua at the birth of Pantagruel, uttering shouts of triumph, and boisterous with joy as he related the death of the beast, and grieving and tearing his beard in telling of that of his brother.
他回到了城堡，大笑着大哭，就像加尔岡图亲自为潘塔古鲁诞生欢笑一样，发出胜利的呼喊声，高兴得喧闹无比地描述着野兽的死亡，又伤心地撕咬着自己的胡须，讲述了他哥哥的死亡。

And often, later, when he talked again of that day, he would say, with tears in his eyes:
而且，后来，当他再次谈起那一天时，他眼中含着泪水说道： —

“If only poor Jean could have seen me strangle the beast, he would have died content, that I am sure!”
“要是可怜的让安能够看到我勒死那个野兽，我相信他会心满意足地死去！”

The widow of my ancestor inspired her orphan son with that horror of the chase which has transmitted itself from father to son as far down as myself.
我祖先的寡妇激发了她的孤儿儿子对狩猎的恐惧之情，这种情感从父亲传承至今世，一直持续到了我这一代。

The Marquis d’Arville was silent. Some one asked:
达维尔侯爵沉默了。有人问道：

“That story is a legend, isn’t it?”
“这个故事是不是一个传说呢？”

And the story teller answered:
讲故事的人回答道：

“I swear to you that it is true from beginning to end.”
“我向你们发誓，这个故事从头到尾都是真实的。”

Then a lady declared, in a little, soft voice
然后一个女士以轻柔的声音宣布：

“All the same, it is fine to have passions like that.”
“尽管如此，拥有这样的激情还是很好。”