If the Count of Monte Cristo had been for a long time familiar with the ways of Parisian society, he would have appreciated better the significance of the step which M. de Villefort had taken. —
如果蒙特·克里斯托伯爵对巴黎社会的方式有很长一段时间的了解，他会更好地理解维尔福先生所采取的行动的意义。 —

Standing well at court, whether the king regnant was of the older or younger branch, whether the government was doctrinaire liberal, or conservative; —
不论现任国王是老派还是新派，不论政府是主义自由派还是保守派，能够在宫廷中地位良好； —

looked upon by all as a man of talent, since those who have never experienced a political check are generally so regarded; —
所有人都视他为一个有才华的人，因为那些从未遭遇过政治打击的人通常如此被认为； —

hated by many, but warmly supported by others, without being really liked by anybody, M. de Villefort held a high position in the magistracy, and maintained his eminence like a Harlay or a Molé. His drawing-room, under the regenerating influence of a young wife and a daughter by his first marriage, scarcely eighteen, was still one of the well-regulated Paris salons where the worship of traditional customs and the observance of rigid etiquette were carefully maintained. —
被许多人憎恨，但又得到很多人热情的支持，却没有真正被任何人喜爱，维尔福先生在司法界拥有着高职位，并像哈莱或莫勒一样保持着自己的卓越地位。在他的休息室里，受到年轻妻子和他第一次婚姻所生的仅18岁的女儿的影响，仍然是巴黎一家遵守传统习俗、严谨执行严格礼仪的伦敦贵族沙龙之一。 —

A freezing politeness, a strict fidelity to government principles, a profound contempt for theories and theorists, a deep-seated hatred of ideality, —these were the elements of private and public life displayed by M. de Villefort.
冷冽的礼貌，对政府原则的严格忠诚，对理论和理论家的深深蔑视，对理想主义的深深厌恶 - 这些是维尔福展示在私人和公共生活中的要素。

M. de Villefort was not only a magistrate, he was almost a diplomatist. —
维尔福先生不仅是一名法官，他几乎是一名外交家。 —

His relations with the former court, of which he always spoke with dignity and respect, made him respected by the new one, and he knew so many things, that not only was he always carefully considered, but sometimes consulted. —
他与前朝的关系，他总是以尊严和尊重的态度谈论，使他受到新朝廷的尊重，他知道很多事情，不仅总是受到仔细考虑，有时还被咨询。 —

Perhaps this would not have been so had it been possible to get rid of M. de Villefort; —
也许如果能够摆脱维尔福先生的话，事情就不会是这样的了； —

but, like the feudal barons who rebelled against their sovereign, he dwelt in an impregnable fortress. —
但是，就像反抗君主的封建领主一样，他居住在一座坚不可摧的堡垒中。 —

This fortress was his post as king’s attorney, all the advantages of which he exploited with marvellous skill, and which he would not have resigned but to be made deputy, and thus to replace neutrality by opposition.
这座堡垒就是他作为国王的律师的职位，他巧妙地利用了这个职位的所有优势，他只有成为代议员才肯放弃这个职位，从而用反对代替中立。

Ordinarily M. de Villefort made and returned very few visits. —
通常，维尔福先生很少进行和回访。 —

His wife visited for him, and this was the received thing in the world, where the weighty and multifarious occupations of the magistrate were accepted as an excuse for what was really only calculated pride, a manifestation of professed superiority—in fact, the application of the axiom, Pretend to think well of yourself, and the world will think well of you, an axiom a hundred times more useful in society nowadays than that of the Greeks, “Know thyself, ” a knowledge for which, in our days, we have substituted the less difficult and more advantageous science of knowing others.
他的妻子替他进行探望，这在世界上是公认的事实，因为法官的繁重和多样化的工作被接受为实际上只是计算出的傲慢，表现出的优越感，实际上是应用了这句箴言：“假装对自己有好印象，世界会对你有好印象。”这个公式在当今社会比希腊人的“认识自己”的公式更有用，认识自己的公式已被我们这个时代更简单且更有利的“认识他人的科学”所替代。

To his friends M. de Villefort was a powerful protector; —
对他的朋友来说，维尔福先生是一个有权势的保护者； —

to his enemies, he was a silent, but bitter opponent; —
对他的敌人来说，他是一个沉默但刻薄的对手； —

for those who were neither the one nor the other, he was a statue of the law-made man. —
对于那些既不是敌人也不是朋友的人来说，他是一个法律制造的人的雕像。 —

He had a haughty bearing, a look either steady and impenetrable or insolently piercing and inquisitorial. —
他有着傲慢的举止，眼神时而坚定而不可渗透，时而傲慢地尖锐而调查。 —

Four successive revolutions had built and cemented the pedestal upon which his fortune was based.
历次革命的功绩使他的财富得以稳固。

M. de Villefort had the reputation of being the least curious and the least wearisome man in France. —
维勒福爵士被认为是法国最不好奇、最不烦人的人。 —

He gave a ball every year, at which he appeared for a quarter of an hour only, —that is to say, five-and-forty minutes less than the king is visible at his balls. —
他每年都会举办一场舞会，只出席了15分钟——也就是说，比国王在舞会上露面的时间少了45分钟。 —

He was never seen at the theatres, at concerts, or in any place of public resort. —
他从不去剧院、音乐会或公共场所。 —

Occasionally, but seldom, he played at whist, and then care was taken to select partners worthy of him—sometimes they were ambassadors, sometimes archbishops, or sometimes a prince, or a president, or some dowager duchess.
偶尔，很少见，他会玩桥牌，而且会特意挑选与他相配的搭档——有时是大使，有时是大主教，有时是王子、总统或某个高贵的遗孀公爵夫人。

Such was the man whose carriage had just now stopped before the Count of Monte Cristo’s door. —
就是这样一个人刚刚在蒙特克里斯托伯爵家门口停下了车。 —

The valet de chambre announced M. de Villefort at the moment when the count, leaning over a large table, was tracing on a map the route from St. Petersburg to China.
正当伯爵俯身在一张大桌子上，在地图上勾勒从圣彼得堡到中国的路线时，他的随从宣布维勒福爵士到来了。

The procureur entered with the same grave and measured step he would have employed in entering a court of justice. —
检察官以同样庄重而有分寸的步伐走进了房间，就像他进入法庭时一样。 —

He was the same man, or rather the development of the same man, whom we have heretofore seen as assistant attorney at Marseilles. —
他是同一个人，或者更确切地说，是我们之前在马赛见过的那个助理检察官的延续。 —

Nature, according to her way, had made no deviation in the path he had marked out for himself. —
按照她的方式，大自然在他预定的道路上没有偏离一丝一毫。 —

From being slender he had now become meagre; once pale, he was now yellow; —
他从曾经的苗条变得消瘦；曾经的苍白变成了黄色； —

his deep-set eyes were hollow, and the gold spectacles shielding his eyes seemed to be an integral portion of his face. —
他深陷的眼睛空虚而凹陷，金色的眼镜作为他脸部的一部分。 —

He dressed entirely in black, with the exception of his white tie, and his funeral appearance was only mitigated by the slight line of red ribbon which passed almost imperceptibly through his button-hole, and appeared like a streak of blood traced with a delicate brush.
他全身穿着黑色服装，除了白色领带外，他的葬礼外表仅被细细的红丝带所缓和，几乎看不见，就像是用细刷子描绘的血丝。

Although master of himself, Monte Cristo, scrutinized with irrepressible curiosity the magistrate whose salute he returned, and who, distrustful by habit, and especially incredulous as to social prodigies, was much more despised to look upon “the noble stranger,” as Monte Cristo was already called, as an adventurer in search of new fields, or an escaped criminal, rather than as a prince of the Holy See, or a sultan of the Thousand and One Nights.
尽管蒙特克里斯托对这位问候他的法官抱着无法抑制的好奇心进行审视，而这位习惯性地不信任，并对社会奇迹怀有怀疑态度的法官，对于蒙特克里斯托已被称为“贵族陌生人”的人，更倾向于将他视为正在寻找新领地的冒险家，或者是逃亡的罪犯，而不是神圣之座的王子，或者是《一千零一夜》的苏丹。

“Sir,” said Villefort, in the squeaky tone assumed by magistrates in their oratorical periods, and of which they cannot, or will not, divest themselves in society, “sir, the signal service which you yesterday rendered to my wife and son has made it a duty for me to offer you my thanks. —
“先生，”维尔福以法官在演讲中表现出的尖利声音说道，而他们在社交场合中也无法或不愿除去这种声音，“先生，您昨天对我妻子和儿子所做出的重要帮助使我有责任向您表示感谢。 —

I have come, therefore, to discharge this duty, and to express to you my overwhelming gratitude.”
因此，我来这里是为了履行这个责任，并向您表达我无比的感激。”

And as he said this, the “eye severe” of the magistrate had lost nothing of its habitual arrogance. —
当他说这话时，法官那“严厉的眼神”没有失去其惯常的傲慢。 —

He spoke in a voice of the procureur-general, with the rigid inflexibility of neck and shoulders which caused his flatterers to say (as we have before observed) that he was the living statue of the law.
他的声音像高级检察官一样，颈肩僵硬得让他的谄媚者们说（正如我们之前观察到的那样），他是法律的活雕像。

“Monsieur,” replied the count, with a chilling air, “I am very happy to have been the means of preserving a son to his mother, for they say that the sentiment of maternity is the most holy of all; —
“先生，”伯爵冷冷地回答道，“我非常高兴能够帮助一个孩子保全其母亲，因为人们说母爱是最神圣的情感； —

and the good fortune which occurred to me, monsieur, might have enabled you to dispense with a duty which, in its discharge, confers an undoubtedly great honor; —
而我所经历的这个好运，先生，也许使您无需履行这项责任，而此责任的履行无疑是一种极大的荣誉； —

for I am aware that M. de Villefort is not usually lavish of the favor which he now bestows on me, —a favor which, however estimable, is unequal to the satisfaction which I have in my own consciousness.”
因为我知道维尔福先生通常不会慷慨地给予他现在赐予我的恩惠—尽管这个恩惠很可贵，但却不如我的良心得到的满足那般珍贵。”

Villefort, astonished at this reply, which he by no means expected, started like a soldier who feels the blow levelled at him over the armor he wears, and a curl of his disdainful lip indicated that from that moment he noted in the tablets of his brain that the Count of Monte Cristo was by no means a highly bred gentleman.
维尔福特对这个回答感到非常惊讶，他绝对没有预料到，他像一名士兵一样感到被对方的攻击击中了护甲，他轻蔑的嘴角表明，从那一刻起，他笔记在脑海里，蒙特克里斯托伯爵绝对不是一个非常有教养的绅士。

He glanced around, in order to seize on something on which the conversation might turn, and seemed to fall easily on a topic. —
他环顾四周，试图找到一个可以转换话题的东西，似乎很容易就找到了一个话题。 —

He saw the map which Monte Cristo had been examining when he entered, and said:
他看到蒙特克里斯托伯爵进来时正在查看的地图，并说道：

“You seem geographically engaged, sir? It is a rich study for you, who, as I learn, have seen as many lands as are delineated on this map.”
“您似乎对地理很感兴趣，先生？对于您来说，这是一个丰富的研究，因为我听说您已经看过这张地图所标明的那么多地方。”

“Yes, sir,” replied the count; “I have sought to make of the human race, taken in the mass, what you practice every day on individuals—a physiological study. —
“是的，先生，”蒙特克里斯托伯爵回答道，“我一直试图将整个人类群体，类似于您每天对个体所进行的生理学研究。 —

I have believed it was much easier to descend from the whole to a part than to ascend from a part to the whole. —
我相信从整体到部分的下降要比从部分到整体的上升容易得多。 —

It is an algebraic axiom, which makes us proceed from a known to an unknown quantity, and not from an unknown to a known; —
这是一个代数公理，它使我们从已知量到未知量的推理，而不是从未知量到已知量； —

but sit down, sir, I beg of you.”
但是，请坐，先生，我求求您。”

Monte Cristo pointed to a chair, which the procureur was obliged to take the trouble to move forwards himself, while the count merely fell back into his own, on which he had been kneeling when M. Villefort entered. —
蒙特克里斯托指着一把椅子，迫使椅子本必须亲自把椅子移近，而伯爵只是回到了他自己的椅子上，当维尔福先生进来时，他正跪在上面。 —

Thus the count was halfway turned towards his visitor, having his back towards the window, his elbow resting on the geographical chart which furnished the theme of conversation for the moment, —a conversation which assumed, as in the case of the interviews with Danglars and Morcerf, a turn analogous to the persons, if not to the situation.
因此，伯爵正面朝着访客，背对着窗户，手肘靠在地理图上，地理图此刻是对话的主题 - 一次对话，就像对待当年丹格拉和莫尔塞夫的面谈那样，与人物有某种类似，尽管与情境不同。

“Ah, you philosophize,” replied Villefort, after a moment’s silence, during which, like a wrestler who encounters a powerful opponent, he took breath; —
“啊，你在哲学思考，”在几秒钟的沉默后，维尔福先生答道，就像一个摔跤手面对一个强大的对手一样，他喘了口气； —

“well, sir, really, if, like you, I had nothing else to do, I should seek a more amusing occupation.”
“嗯，先生，真的，如果我像您一样没有其他要做的事情，我会找一种更有趣的职业。”

“Why, in truth, sir,” was Monte Cristo’s reply, “man is but an ugly caterpillar for him who studies him through a solar microscope; —
“事实上，先生，”蒙特克里斯托回答道，“对于那些通过太阳显微镜来研究他的人来说，人只不过是一个丑陋的毛虫而已； —

but you said, I think, that I had nothing else to do. Now, really, let me ask, sir, have you? —
但是，您说过，我没有其他事情要做。现在，真的，请让我问一问，先生，您有吗？ —

—do you believe you have anything to do? —
你相信自己有事情要做吗？ —

or to speak in plain terms, do you really think that what you do deserves being called anything?”
或者用通俗的话说，你真的认为你所做的事情值得被称为任何东西吗？”

Villefort’s astonishment redoubled at this second thrust so forcibly made by his strange adversary. It was a long time since the magistrate had heard a paradox so strong, or rather, to say the truth more exactly, it was the first time he had ever heard of it. —
维尔福的惊讶在他奇怪的对手这次更有力的攻击下达到了顶点。法官已经很久没有听到这么强烈的悖论了，或者更准确地说，事实上他从来没有听说过这个。 —

The procureur exerted himself to reply.
检察官努力回答。

“Sir,” he responded, “you are a stranger, and I believe you say yourself that a portion of your life has been spent in Oriental countries, so you are not aware how human justice, so expeditious in barbarous countries, takes with us a prudent and well-studied course.”
“先生，”他回答道，“您是个陌生人，我相信您自己也说过您的一部分生活在东方国家度过，所以您不了解人类正义在我们这里采取的谨慎和深思熟虑的方式。”

“Oh, yes—yes, I do, sir; it is the pede claudo of the ancients. —
“哦，是的—是的，亲爱的先生；这就是古人所说的一种步态。” —

I know all that, for it is with the justice of all countries especially that I have occupied myself—it is with the criminal procedure of all nations that I have compared natural justice, and I must say, sir, that it is the law of primitive nations, that is, the law of retaliation, that I have most frequently found to be according to the law of God.”
“我知道这一点，因为我一直致力于研究各国的司法体系—我比较了各国的刑事诉讼程序，我必须说，先进国家最常见的是按照上帝的法律来实施原始民族的法律，也就是报应原则的法律。”

“If this law were adopted, sir,” said the procureur, “it would greatly simplify our legal codes, and in that case the magistrates would not (as you just observed) have much to do.”
“如果这个法律被采用，先生，”检察官说道，“那么我们的法典将大大简化，这样法官们（正如您刚才观察到的）就没多少事情要做了。”

“It may, perhaps, come to this in time,” observed Monte Cristo; —
“也许，随着时间的推移，情况会变成这样，”蒙德里斯托观察道； —

“you know that human inventions march from the complex to the simple, and simplicity is always perfection.”
“你知道人类的发明从复杂到简单，而简单始终是完美的。”

“In the meanwhile,” continued the magistrate, “our codes are in full force, with all their contradictory enactments derived from Gallic customs, Roman laws, and Frank usages; —
“与此同时，”法官继续说道，“我们的法典完全有效，其中包含了从高卢风俗、罗马法律和法兰克法规中产生的所有相互矛盾的法令； —

the knowledge of all which, you will agree, is not to be acquired without extended labor; —
众所周知，所有这些知识都不可不经过长时间的努力才能获得； —

it needs tedious study to acquire this knowledge, and, when acquired, a strong power of brain to retain it.”
获得这些知识需要枯燥的学习，而且还需要有强大的大脑来记住它们。

“I agree with you entirely, sir; but all that even you know with respect to the French code, I know, not only in reference to that code, but as regards the codes of all nations. —
“先生，我完全同意您的观点；但是，您所知道的法兰西法典，我不仅知道它，还对其他所有国家的法典都了如指掌。 —

The English, Turkish, Japanese, Hindu laws, are as familiar to me as the French laws, and thus I was right, when I said to you, that relatively (you know that everything is relative, sir)—that relatively to what I have done, you have very little to do; —
英国、土耳其、日本、印度教的法律对我来说就像法兰西的法律一样熟悉，所以我说对于我所做的事来说，相对而言，您所做的事很少； —

but that relatively to all I have learned, you have yet a great deal to learn.”
但相对于我所学到的一切，您还有很多需要学习。”

“But with what motive have you learned all this?” inquired Villefort, in astonishment.
“但是你学这些的动机是什么？”维勒福特惊讶地问道。

Monte Cristo smiled.
蒙特克里斯托微笑着回答。

“Really, sir,” he observed, “I see that in spite of the reputation which you have acquired as a superior man, you look at everything from the material and vulgar view of society, beginning with man, and ending with man—that is to say, in the most restricted, most narrow view which it is possible for human understanding to embrace.”
“实话告诉您，先生，尽管您以卓越的才华而闻名，但您对社会物质和俗气的观点非常狭隘，只从人开始，也以人结束——也就是说，从人性的最狭窄限度的角度来看待一切，这是人类理解所能包容的最有限的视角。”

“Pray, sir, explain yourself,” said Villefort, more and more astonished, “I really do—not—understand you—perfectly.”
“请您解释一下，先生。”维勒福越来越惊讶地说，“我确实真的不太明白您的意思。”

“I say, sir, that with the eyes fixed on the social organization of nations, you see only the springs of the machine, and lose sight of the sublime workman who makes them act; —
“我是说，先生，当您只看着国家的社会结构时，您只看到了机器的发条，却失去了那位崇高的工匠，是他让这些机器运转； —

I say that you do not recognize before you and around you any but those office-holders whose commissions have been signed by a minister or king; —
“我是说，在您眼中，您只能看到那些职务只有部长或国王签署任命状的官员们，而其他人您都看不到。” —

and that the men whom God has put above those office-holders, ministers, and kings, by giving them a mission to follow out, instead of a post to fill—I say that they escape your narrow, limited field of observation. —
而那些上帝让他们超越那些公职人员、牧师和国王的男人们，因为给予他们一个任务去完成，而不是一个职位去填补，我想说的是，他们逃脱了你们狭隘、有限的观察领域。 —

It is thus that human weakness fails, from its debilitated and imperfect organs. —
正是因为人类的弱点而产生了衰弱和不完善的器官。 —

Tobias took the angel who restored him to light for an ordinary young man. —
托比亚斯把把恢复他视力的天使当成了一个普通的年轻人。 —

The nations took Attila, who was doomed to destroy them, for a conqueror similar to other conquerors, and it was necessary for both to reveal their missions, that they might be known and acknowledged; —
各国认为注定要毁灭他们的阿提拉是和其他征服者相似的征服者，而对于两者来说，他们都必须揭示自己的使命，以便被人们认识和承认。 —

one was compelled to say, ‘I am the angel of the Lord’; —
有人被迫说，“我是上帝的天使”。 —

and the other, ‘I am the hammer of God, ’ in order that the divine essence in both might be revealed.”
而另一个人则说，“我是上帝的锤子”，为了揭示两者中的神性。

“Then,” said Villefort, more and more amazed, and really supposing he was speaking to a mystic or a madman, “you consider yourself as one of those extraordinary beings whom you have mentioned?”
“那么”，维勒福更加惊讶了，真以为自己在和一个神秘人士或疯子说话，“你将自己视为你所提到的那些非凡存在之一吗？”

“And why not?” said Monte Cristo coldly.
“为什么不呢？”蒙特·克里斯托冷冷地说道。

“Your pardon, sir,” replied Villefort, quite astounded, “but you will excuse me if, when I presented myself to you, I was unaware that I should meet with a person whose knowledge and understanding so far surpass the usual knowledge and understanding of men. —
“请您原谅，先生，”威尔福很惊讶地回答道，“如果我在见到您之前对您的知识和理解力如此超过一般人的知识和理解力一无所知，您将原谅我吗？ —

It is not usual with us corrupted wretches of civilization to find gentlemen like yourself, possessors, as you are, of immense fortune—at least, so it is said—and I beg you to observe that I do not inquire, I merely repeat; —
我们这些堕落的文明败坏之徒通常不会遇到像您这样的绅士，您拥有巨大的财富——至少，据说是这样——请注意，我不是在询问，我只是重复； —

—it is not usual, I say, for such privileged and wealthy beings to waste their time in speculations on the state of society, in philosophical reveries, intended at best to console those whom fate has disinherited from the goods of this world.”
我要说的是，这并不常见，我指的是，这样特权和富裕的人们浪费时间去思考社会状况，在最好的情况下，就是为那些命运使他们失去了这个世界上的财富的人们提供安慰的哲学幻想。”

“Really, sir,” retorted the count, “have you attained the eminent situation in which you are, without having admitted, or even without having met with exceptions? —
“真的，先生，”伯爵反驳道，“您难道在获得了您现在的卓越地位之前，没有接受过，甚至没有遇到过例外吗？” —

and do you never use your eyes, which must have acquired so much finesse and certainty, to divine, at a glance, the kind of man by whom you are confronted? —
你从未使用你的眼睛，这对于你来说必定已经获得了如此多的精妙和确定性，一眼就能洞察出你所面对的人的品性吗？ —

Should not a magistrate be not merely the best administrator of the law, but the most crafty expounder of the chicanery of his profession, a steel probe to search hearts, a touchstone to try the gold which in each soul is mingled with more or less of alloy?”
一个法官不仅应该是法律的最佳执行者，还应该是职业诡计的最狡猾解释者，一个探寻人心的钢铁探针，试金石来检验每个灵魂中被混杂不同程度的合金所珍藏的金子？

“Sir,” said Villefort, “upon my word, you overcome me. —
“先生”，维莱福尔说道，“我发誓，你打败了我。 —

I really never heard a person speak as you do.”
我真的从未听到过有人像你这样说话。”

“Because you remain eternally encircled in a round of general conditions, and have never dared to raise your wings into those upper spheres which God has peopled with invisible or exceptional beings.”
“因为你永远困在一系列普遍条件中，并从未敢于将你的羽翼展开到上层的领域，上帝在那里用隐形或特殊的存在来人满了我们。”

“And you allow then, sir, that spheres exist, and that these marked and invisible beings mingle amongst us?”
“那么，您认为存在这些领域以及这些有标记而无形的存在并与我们相互交融，对吗？”

“Why should they not? Can you see the air you breathe, and yet without which you could not for a moment exist?”
“为什么不能呢？你可以看到你呼吸的空气吗？然而，没有它，你连一刻钟都无法存在。”

“Then we do not see those beings to whom you allude?”
“那么我们不看到你们所提及的那些存在吗？”

“Yes, we do; you see them whenever God pleases to allow them to assume a material form. —
“是的，我们会；每当上帝愿意让他们以物质形式出现时，你们就能看到他们。 —

You touch them, come in contact with them, speak to them, and they reply to you.”
你们会触摸到他们，接触到他们，与他们交谈，他们也会回答你们。”

“Ah,” said Villefort, smiling, “I confess I should like to be warned when one of these beings is in contact with me.”
“啊，”维尔福笑道，“我承认我希望在这些存在与我接触时能得到警告。”

“You have been served as you desire, monsieur, for you were warned just now, and I now again warn you.”
“你得到了你所期望的服务，先生，因为你刚才得到了警告，现在我再次警告你。”

“Then you yourself are one of these marked beings?”
“那么你自己也是其中一个被标记的存在吗？”

“Yes, monsieur, I believe so; for until now, no man has found himself in a position similar to mine. —
“是的，先生，我相信是的；因为直到现在，没有人陷入过像我这样的境地。 —

The dominions of kings are limited either by mountains or rivers, or a change of manners, or an alteration of language. —
国王的领土或被山脉或河流限制，或因风俗改变或语言变迁。 —

My kingdom is bounded only by the world, for I am not an Italian, or a Frenchman, or a Hindu, or an American, or a Spaniard—I am a cosmopolite. —
我的王国只被世界所界定，因为我不是意大利人，也不是法国人，或印度人，或美国人，或西班牙人-我是一个世界主义者。 —

No country can say it saw my birth. God alone knows what country will see me die. —
没有一个国家可以声称看到我出生。只有上帝知道哪个国家会看到我死去。” —

I adopt all customs, speak all languages. —
我接受所有的习俗，说所有的语言。 —

You believe me to be a Frenchman, for I speak French with the same facility and purity as yourself. —
你认为我是法国人，因为我像你一样流利纯正地说法语。 —

Well, Ali, my Nubian, believes me to be an Arab; Bertuccio, my steward, takes me for a Roman; —
嗯，我的努比亚人阿里认为我是阿拉伯人；我的管家贝图乔把我当做罗马人； —

Haydée, my slave, thinks me a Greek. You may, therefore, comprehend, that being of no country, asking no protection from any government, acknowledging no man as my brother, not one of the scruples that arrest the powerful, or the obstacles which paralyze the weak, paralyzes or arrests me. —
我的奴隶海蒂认为我是希腊人。所以你可以理解，我不属于任何国家，不寄托于任何政府的保护，不承认任何人是我的兄弟，不会有束缚强者、麻痹弱者的任何顾虑与阻碍束缚或阻止我。 —

I have only two adversaries—I will not say two conquerors, for with perseverance I subdue even them, —they are time and distance. —
我只有两个对手——我不说是两个征服者，因为我有毅力，即便是对付他们，我也能制服——那就是时间和距离。 —

There is a third, and the most terrible—that is my condition as a mortal being. —
还有第三个，也是最可怕的，那就是我作为一个凡人的命运。 —

This alone can stop me in my onward career, before I have attained the goal at which I aim, for all the rest I have reduced to mathematical terms. —
只有这个能够在我实现目标之前阻止我前进，其他一切我都已用数学术语化解。 —

What men call the chances of fate—namely, ruin, change, circumstances—I have fully anticipated, and if any of these should overtake me, yet it will not overwhelm me. —
男人所称的命运机会，即毁灭、变迁、环境，我早有预料，即使其中任何一种发生在我身上，也不会击垮我。 —

Unless I die, I shall always be what I am, and therefore it is that I utter the things you have never heard, even from the mouths of kings—for kings have need, and other persons have fear of you. —
除非我死去，我将永远是我自己，所以我说出了你们从未听过的话，甚至连国王的口中都从未听过–因为国王有需求，其他人则害怕你们。 —

For who is there who does not say to himself, in a society as incongruously organized as ours, ‘Perhaps some day I shall have to do with the king’s attorney’?”
因为在我们这个社会如此不协调的组织中，有谁不会对自己说：“也许有一天我将与国王的律师打交道”？

“But can you not say that, sir? The moment you become an inhabitant of France, you are naturally subjected to the French law.”
“但是您不能这样说，先生吗？您一旦成为法国的居民，自然要受法国法律的管辖。”

“I know it sir,” replied Monte Cristo; —
“我知道，先生。”蒙特克里斯托回答道； —

“but when I visit a country I begin to study, by all the means which are available, the men from whom I may have anything to hope or to fear, till I know them as well as, perhaps better than, they know themselves. —
“但是当我游览一个国家时，我会尽一切可能的手段去研究我可能有所期望或害怕的人们，直到我对他们了如指掌，甚至可能比他们自己还要了解他们。” —

It follows from this, that the king’s attorney, be he who he may, with whom I should have to deal, would assuredly be more embarrassed than I should.”
由此可见，无论是谁，无论我将与其打交道的是哪位国王的律师，他一定会比我更为尴尬。

“That is to say,” replied Villefort with hesitation, “that human nature being weak, every man, according to your creed, has committed faults.”
“也就是说，”维尔福带着迟疑回答道，“按照你的信条，由于人性弱点，每个人都犯过错误。”

“Faults or crimes,” responded Monte Cristo with a negligent air.
“错误或罪行，”蒙特克里斯托漫不经心地回答道。

“And that you alone, amongst the men whom you do not recognize as your brothers—for you have said so, ” observed Villefort in a tone that faltered somewhat—“you alone are perfect.”
“你说过的，你认定的那些被你排除在兄弟之外的人中，只有你一个是完美的。”维尔福以微微颤抖的语调观察到。

“No, not perfect,” was the count’s reply; “only impenetrable, that’s all. —
“不，不是完美的，”伯爵回答道，“只是不可渗透而已。” —

But let us leave off this strain, sir, if the tone of it is displeasing to you; —
但是如果你觉得这种语调令人不悦，我们可以停下来。 —

I am no more disturbed by your justice than are you by my second-sight.”
你对我的正义一点也不困扰，就像我对你的预知能力一样。

“No, no,—by no means,” said Villefort, who was afraid of seeming to abandon his ground. “No; —
“不，不，绝对不会，”维尔福害怕显得放弃阵地，“不会。” —

by your brilliant and almost sublime conversation you have elevated me above the ordinary level; —
通过你的聪明而几乎崇高的对话，你把我提升到了超越平凡的水平； —

we no longer talk, we rise to dissertation. —
我们不再只是交谈，而是上升到论文的高度。 —

But you know how the theologians in their collegiate chairs, and philosophers in their controversies, occasionally say cruel truths; —
但你知道神学家在他们的学术讲座中，哲学家在他们的争论中，有时会说出残酷的真相； —

let us suppose for the moment that we are theologizing in a social way, or even philosophically, and I will say to you, rude as it may seem, ‘My brother, you sacrifice greatly to pride; —
让我们暂时假设我们在以社交或哲学的方式进行神学讨论，我要对你说，尽管这可能显得粗鲁，“我的兄弟，你为自尊牺牲了许多； —

you may be above others, but above you there is God.’”
你可以高于别人，但在你之上还有上帝。”

“Above us all, sir,” was Monte Cristo’s response, in a tone and with an emphasis so deep that Villefort involuntarily shuddered. —
“在我们所有人之上，先生”，蒙特克里斯托回答道，声音深沉，重音之处让维尔福不由自主地颤抖起来。 —

“I have my pride for men—serpents always ready to threaten everyone who would pass without crushing them under foot. —
“我对人们有自尊 – 蛇总是准备好威胁那些试图经过而不加碾压他们的人。 —

But I lay aside that pride before God, who has taken me from nothing to make me what I am.”
但我在上帝面前放下了这种自尊，因为他把我从无到有，使我成为现在的我。”

“Then, count, I admire you,” said Villefort, who, for the first time in this strange conversation, used the aristocratic form to the unknown personage, whom, until now, he had only called monsieur. —
“那么, 公爵, 我钦佩您，”维尔福说道，他第一次在这个奇怪的对话中使用了对这个陌生人物的贵族称谓，此前他只叫他先生。 —

“Yes, and I say to you, if you are really strong, really superior, really pious, or impenetrable, which you were right in saying amounts to the same thing—then be proud, sir, for that is the characteristic of predominance. —
“是的，我对您说，如果您真的强大，真的优越，真的虔诚，或者说是不可渗透性，正如您所说的那样，那么自豪吧，先生，因为这是优越性的特征。 —

Yet you have unquestionably some ambition.”
然而，毫无疑问，您有一些野心。”

“I have, sir.”
“是的，先生。”

“And what may it be?”
“它可能是什么？”

“I too, as happens to every man once in his life, have been taken by Satan into the highest mountain in the earth, and when there he showed me all the kingdoms of the world, and as he said before, so said he to me, ‘Child of earth, what wouldst thou have to make thee adore me? —
“我也曾经像每个人一样，被撒旦带到这世上最高的山上，当我在那里时，他向我展示了世界上所有的国度，就像他之前说的一样，他对我说，‘尘土之子，你要求什么才能让你崇拜我？’” —

’ I reflected long, for a gnawing ambition had long preyed upon me, and then I replied, ‘Listen, —I have always heard of Providence, and yet I have never seen him, or anything that resembles him, or which can make me believe that he exists. —
我深思熟虑，因为我一直被一种强烈的野心困扰着，然后我回答道：“听着，我一直听说过上帝，但我从未见过他，也从未见过任何类似他的东西，或者能让我相信他的存在的东西。” —

I wish to be Providence myself, for I feel that the most beautiful, noblest, most sublime thing in the world, is to recompense and punish. —
我希望成为代替上帝的存在，因为我感觉世界上最美丽、最高贵、最卓越的事情就是报答和惩罚。 —

’ Satan bowed his head, and groaned. ‘You mistake,’ he said, ‘Providence does exist, only you have never seen him, because the child of God is as invisible as the parent. —
撒旦低下头，抱头痛苦地说道：“你误解了，”他说，“上帝是存在的，只是你从未见过他，因为上帝的子民像他们的父母一样是无形的。 —

You have seen nothing that resembles him, because he works by secret springs, and moves by hidden ways. —
你从未见过任何类似他的东西，因为他通过秘密机关工作，以隐藏的方式行动。 —

All I can do for you is to make you one of the agents of that Providence. —
我能为你做的就是让你成为那个上帝的一种工具。 —

’ The bargain was concluded. I may sacrifice my soul, but what matters it? —
交易达成了。我可能牺牲了我的灵魂，但那又有何妨呢？ —

” added Monte Cristo. “If the thing were to do again, I would again do it.”
”蒙特克里斯托又补充道：“如果再来一次，我还会这样做。”

Villefort looked at Monte Cristo with extreme amazement.
维尔福看着蒙特克里斯托，十分惊讶。

“Count,” he inquired, “have you any relations?”
“请问，你有亲戚吗？”他询问道。

“No, sir, I am alone in the world.”
“没有，先生，我是世界上唯一的一个人。”

“So much the worse.”
“那可不好。”

“Why?” asked Monte Cristo.
“为什么？”蒙泰克里斯托问道。

“Because then you might witness a spectacle calculated to break down your pride. —
“因为你可能会见到一个可以打破你傲慢的景象。” —

You say you fear nothing but death?”
“你说你只害怕死亡？”

“I did not say that I feared it; I only said that death alone could check the execution of my plans.”
“我没有说我害怕，我只是说只有死亡才能阻止我计划的执行。”

“And old age?”
“那衰老呢？”

“My end will be achieved before I grow old.”
“在我变老之前我的目标会实现。”

“And madness?”
“那疯狂呢？”

“I have been nearly mad; and you know the axiom,—non bis in idem. —
“我曾经近乎疯狂，而你知道这句格言——‘不会再有第二次’。 —

It is an axiom of criminal law, and, consequently, you understand its full application.”
这是刑法的一个格言，因此，你能理解它的完整含义。”

“Sir,” continued Villefort, “there is something to fear besides death, old age, and madness. —
“先生，”维尔福继续说道，“除了死亡、衰老和疯狂之外还有一些需要担心的事情。 —

For instance, there is apoplexy—that lightning-stroke which strikes but does not destroy you, and yet which brings everything to an end. —
比如中风——那个击中但并不毁灭你的闪电，却能让一切终结。 —

You are still yourself as now, and yet you are yourself no longer; —
你现在还是你自己，但却不再是你自己； —

you who, like Ariel, verge on the angelic, are but an inert mass, which, like Caliban, verges on the brutal; —
你们这些像亚里士多德一样接近天使般纯净的人，却只是一团惰性质量，与加利班一样趋于野蛮； —

and this is called in human tongues, as I tell you, neither more nor less than apoplexy. —
人类称之为“中风”，就像我告诉你的那样，没有多也没有少。 —

Come, if so you will, count, and continue this conversation at my house, any day you may be willing to see an adversary capable of understanding and anxious to refute you, and I will show you my father, M. Noirtier de Villefort, one of the most fiery Jacobins of the French Revolution; —
如果你愿意，来我家继续这个对话吧，随时都可以。你将会见到一个既能理解你又渴望驳斥你的对手，他就是我父亲维尔福的历伯爵先生，法国革命中最火热的雅各宾派成员之一； —

that is to say, he had the most remarkable audacity, seconded by a most powerful organization—a man who has not, perhaps, like yourself seen all the kingdoms of the earth, but who has helped to overturn one of the greatest; —
也就是说，他拥有极其引人注目的大胆行动力，加上非常强大的组织能力，他或许没有像你一样见过地球上的所有王国，但却帮助推翻了其中一个最伟大的王国； —

in fact, a man who believed himself, like you, one of the envoys, not of God, but of a supreme being; —
事实上，他自认为与你一样是一位使者，不是上帝的，而是至高存在的使者； —

not of Providence, but of fate. Well, sir, the rupture of a blood-vessel on the lobe of the brain has destroyed all this, not in a day, not in an hour, but in a second. —
不是上帝的安排，而是命运的。好吧，先生，一根脑叶上的血管破裂，通过一秒钟的时间，摧毁了这一切，不是一天、不是一个小时，而是一瞬间。 —

M. Noirtier, who, on the previous night, was the old Jacobin, the old senator, the old Carbonaro, laughing at the guillotine, the cannon, and the dagger—M. Noirtier, playing with revolutions—M. Noirtier, for whom France was a vast chess-board, from which pawns, rooks, knights, and queens were to disappear, so that the king was checkmated—M. Noirtier, the redoubtable, was the next morning poor M. Noirtier, the helpless old man, at the tender mercies of the weakest creature in the household, that is, his grandchild, Valentine; —
上一夜曾是老雅各宾、老参议员、老卡尔博纳洛的黑夜中的M. Noirtier，嘲笑断头台、大炮和匕首——M. Noirtier，和革命玩耍——M. Noirtier，对他来说，法国就是一个庞大的棋盘，让兵卒、车、马、和皇后逐渐消失，直到国王被困死——M. Noirtier，这位可畏的人，第二天成了家中最弱的人的不幸对象，也就是他的孙女瓦伦丁; —

a dumb and frozen carcass, in fact, living painlessly on, that time may be given for his frame to decompose without his consciousness of its decay.”
实际上，他是一具哑巴而僵硬的躯体，无痛地活着，给身体提供分解的时机，而他自己并不知道自己正在腐烂。

“Alas, sir,” said Monte Cristo “this spectacle is neither strange to my eye nor my thought. —
“唉，先生，”蒙德·克里斯托说，“这个景象对我的眼睛和思维来说并不陌生。” —

I am something of a physician, and have, like my fellows, sought more than once for the soul in living and in dead matter; —
我是一名医生，和我的同行一样，我曾多次寻找生物和死物中的灵魂； —

yet, like Providence, it has remained invisible to my eyes, although present to my heart. —
然而，就像保罗特岛一样，它对我的眼睛来说依然是无形的，尽管对我的内心来说它存在着。 —

A hundred writers since Socrates, Seneca, St. Augustine, and Gall, have made, in verse and prose, the comparison you have made, and yet I can well understand that a father’s sufferings may effect great changes in the mind of a son. —
自苏格拉底、塞内卡、圣奥古斯丁和盖尔以来，已经有一百个作家用诗歌和散文做出了你所做的比较，然而我可以理解一个父亲的苦难可能会对儿子的心智产生巨大的改变。 —

I will call on you, sir, since you bid me contemplate, for the advantage of my pride, this terrible spectacle, which must have been so great a source of sorrow to your family.”
既然您要我观察这个恐怖的场景，希望以此来满足我的骄傲，我将拜访您，因为这肯定对您的家族造成了巨大的悲伤。”

“It would have been so unquestionably, had not God given me so large a compensation. —
如果上帝没有给我如此丰厚的补偿，那肯定会这样。 —

In contrast with the old man, who is dragging his way to the tomb, are two children just entering into life—Valentine, the daughter by my first wife—Mademoiselle Renée de Saint-Méran—and Edward, the boy whose life you have this day saved.”
与那位行将就木的老人形成鲜明对比的是两个刚刚踏入生命的孩子——瓦伦婷和爱德华，他们分别是我与我的第一任妻子生的孩子，瑞妮·德·圣梅朗小姐和您今天救了命的男孩爱德华。”

“And what is your deduction from this compensation, sir?” inquired Monte Cristo.
“那么，先生，您从这份补偿中得出什么结论？”蒙德克里斯托问道。

“My deduction is,” replied Villefort, “that my father, led away by his passions, has committed some fault unknown to human justice, but marked by the justice of God. That God, desirous in his mercy to punish but one person, has visited this justice on him alone.”
“我的推断是，”维尔福回答道，”我的父亲被他的激情冲昏了头脑，犯下了一些人类法律所不知道的错误，但却是上帝的正义所指向的错误。上帝怜悯之下，只想惩罚一个人，而把这种正义施加于他一个人身上。”

Monte Cristo with a smile on his lips, uttered in the depths of his soul a groan which would have made Villefort fly had he but heard it.
蒙蒂克里斯托心底微微一笑，发出了一声在维尔福听到时肯定会吓得飞起的呻吟。

“Adieu, sir,” said the magistrate, who had risen from his seat; —
“再见，先生，”法官起身说道； —

“I leave you, bearing a remembrance of you—a remembrance of esteem, which I hope will not be disagreeable to you when you know me better; —
“我离开时将带着对您的记忆——一份对您的赞赏之情，当您更加了解我时，希望您会对此感到愉快； —

for I am not a man to bore my friends, as you will learn. —
因为我不是一个会让朋友厌烦的人，这一点您会慢慢了解的。 —

Besides, you have made an eternal friend of Madame de Villefort.”
而且，您已经成为维尔福夫人永远的朋友。”

The count bowed, and contented himself with seeing Villefort to the door of his cabinet, the procureur being escorted to his carriage by two footmen, who, on a signal from their master, followed him with every mark of attention. —
伯爵鞠了一躬，满足地将维尔福送到书房的门口，而维尔福则在两个跟随他的仆人陪同下上了马车，仆人们在主人的示意下一丝不苟地照顾着他。 —

When he had gone, Monte Cristo breathed a profound sigh, and said:
当他离去后，蒙特克里斯托深深地叹了口气，说道：

“Enough of this poison, let me now seek the antidote.”
“够了这毒药，现在让我去寻找解药。”

Then sounding his bell, he said to Ali, who entered:
然后他按响铃，对进来的阿里说：

“I am going to madame’s chamber—have the carriage ready at one o’clock.”
“我要去夫人的房间，一点钟时准备好马车。”