Two days after, the sale was ended. It had produced 150,000 francs. —
两天后，这次销售活动结束了。它产生了15万法郎。 —

The creditors divided among them two thirds, and the family, a sister and a grand-nephew, received the remainder.
债权人们平分了三分之二，而家族中的一位姐姐和一个外甥获得了剩下的部分。

The sister opened her eyes very wide when the lawyer wrote to her that she had inherited 50,000 francs. —
律师写信告诉她，她继承了5万法郎时，姐姐瞪大了眼睛。 —

The girl had not seen her sister for six or seven years, and did not know what had become of her from the moment when she had disappeared from home. —
这个女孩已经六七年没见到她的姐姐了，也不知道姐姐离开家之后发生了什么事情。 —

She came up to Paris in haste, and great was the astonishment of those who had known Marguerite when they saw as her only heir a fine, fat country girl, who until then had never left her village. —
她匆忙来到巴黎，那些曾经认识玛格丽特的人看到她唯一的继承人竟然是一个胖乎乎的乡村姑娘时，大为惊讶。 —

She had made the fortune at a single stroke, without even knowing the source of that fortune. —
她在不知道财富来源的情况下一举致富。 —

She went back, I heard afterward, to her countryside, greatly saddened by her sister’s death, but with a sadness which was somewhat lightened by the investment at four and a half per cent which she had been able to make.
后来我听说她回到了乡下，对姐姐的去世深感悲伤，但她因为能够以4.5%的利率进行投资而感到稍微安慰。

All these circumstances, often repeated in Paris, the mother city of scandal, had begun to be forgotten, and I was even little by little forgetting the part I had taken in them, when a new incident brought to my knowledge the whole of Marguerite’s life, and acquainted me with such pathetic details that I was taken with the idea of writing down the story which I now write.
所有这些情况，经常在巴黎这个丑闻之城出现，已经开始被人遗忘，而我也渐渐忘记了我在其中扮演的角色，直到有一个新的事件让我了解到了玛格丽特整个生活的一切，并告诉了我一些悲惨的细节，于是我决定写下这个故事。

The rooms, now emptied of all their furniture, had been to let for three or four days when one morning there was a ring at my door.
这些房间，现在已经空空如也，出租了三四天，当一个早晨有人按响了我的门铃。

My servant, or, rather, my porter, who acted as my servant, went to the door and brought me a card, saying that the person who had given it to him wished to see me.
我的仆人，或者说，我的门房，去开了门，给我拿来了一张名片，说给他的人想见我。

I glanced at the card and there read these two words: Armand Duval.
我看了一眼名片，上面写着两个字：阿尔芒·杜瓦尔。

I tried to think where I had seen the name, and remembered the first leaf of the copy of Manon Lescaut. —
我试图回想起在哪里见过这个名字，然后想起来了，是《曼侬·莱斯科》这本书的第一页上。 —

What could the person who had given the book to Marguerite want of me? —
给玛格丽特送书的那个人要找我有什么事呢？ —

I gave orders to ask him in at once.
我命令让他立刻进来。

I saw a young man, blond, tall, pale, dressed in a travelling suit which looked as if he had not changed it for some days, and had not even taken the trouble to brush it on arriving at Paris, for it was covered with dust.
我看到一个年轻人，金发，高个子，皮肤苍白，穿着一套旅行服，看起来好像已经有几天没有换过了，甚至来到巴黎后都没有费心去刷洗，因为它满是尘土。

M. Duval was deeply agitated; he made no attempt to conceal his agitation, and it was with tears in his eyes and a trembling voice that he said to me:
杜瓦尔先生非常激动；他没有试图掩饰自己的激动，他眼中含着泪水，声音颤抖地对我说：

“Sir, I beg you to excuse my visit and my costume; —
“先生，请原谅我的造访和打扮； —

but young people are not very ceremonious with one another, and I was so anxious to see you to-day that I have not even gone to the hotel to which I have sent my luggage, and have rushed straight here, fearing that, after all, I might miss you, early as it is.”
但是年轻人之间并不是很拘谨，而我今天非常渴望见到您，以至于连去我寄放行李的酒店都没有去，直接冲到这里来，生怕还是来不及见到您，即便时间这么早。”

I begged M. Duval to sit down by the fire; —
我请杜瓦尔先生坐到火边； —

he did so, and, taking his handkerchief from his pocket, hid his face in it for a moment.
他照做了，并从口袋里拿出手帕，将脸隐藏其中片刻。

“You must be at a loss to understand,” he went on, sighing sadly, “for what purpose an unknown visitor, at such an hour, in such a costume, and in tears, can have come to see you. —
“你一定是不明白为了什么目的，一个陌生的访客，在这样一个时刻，以这样一身打扮，还流着泪来找你。” —

I have simply come to ask of you a great service.”
我只是来向您请个大忙。”

“Speak on, sir, I am entirely at your disposal.”
“请说吧，先生，我完全听凭您的差遣。”

“You were present at the sale of Marguerite Gautier?”
“您在出售玛格丽特·高缇耶的时候在场吗？”

At this word the emotion, which he had got the better of for an instant, was too much for him, and he was obliged to cover his eyes with his hand.
在听到这个词时，他刚刚控制住的情绪又涌上心头，他不得不用手遮住眼睛。

“I must seem to you very absurd,” he added, “but pardon me, and believe that I shall never forget the patience with which you have listened to me.”
“我一定对您显得非常荒唐，”他补充道，“但请原谅我，并相信我将永远不会忘记您耐心听我说话的样子。”

“Sir,” I answered, “if the service which I can render you is able to lessen your trouble a little, tell me at once what I can do for you, and you will find me only too happy to oblige you.”
“先生，”我回答，“如果我能为您做的事能稍微减轻您的困扰，立刻告诉我我能为您做什么，您会发现我非常乐意帮助您。”

M. Duval’s sorrow was sympathetic, and in spite of myself I felt the desire of doing him a kindness. —
杜瓦尔先生的悲伤让人感同身受，我不由自主地想要帮他一个忙。 —

Thereupon he said to me:
于是他对我说：

“You bought something at Marguerite’s sale?”
“你在玛格丽特的出售活动中买了些东西？”

“Yes, a book.”
“是的，一本书。”

“Manon Lescaut?”
“《曼侬·莱斯科》？”

“Precisely.”
“正是这本。”

“Have you the book still?”
“你还有这本书吗？”

“It is in my bedroom.”
“它在我的卧室里。”

On hearing this, Armand Duval seemed to be relieved of a great weight, and thanked me as if I had already rendered him a service merely by keeping the book.
听到这个，阿尔芒·杜瓦似乎放下了一颗沉重的负担，感谢我只因为我保管了这本书。

I got up and went into my room to fetch the book, which I handed to him.
我站起身，进入卧室去拿这本书，然后递给了他。

“That is it indeed,” he said, looking at the inscription on the first page and turning over the leaves; —
“确实是这本，”他看着第一页的题词，翻开了书页。 —

“that is it indeed,” and two big tears fell on the pages. —
“确实是这本，”两滴大大的泪珠掉在了书页上。 —

“Well, sir,” said he, lifting his head, and no longer trying to hide from me that he had wept and was even then on the point of weeping, “do you value this book very greatly?”
“先生，”他抬起头来，不再试图对我隐瞒他已经哭泣过且眼泪已经快要掉下来的事实，“你对这本书非常珍视吗？”

“Why?”
“为什么？”

“Because I have come to ask you to give it up to me.”
“因为我来求你把它还给我。”

“Pardon my curiosity, but was it you, then, who gave it to Marguerite Gautier?”
“请原谅我的好奇，但是是你把它送给玛格丽特·高缇尔的吗？”

“It was!”
“是的！”

“The book is yours, sir; take it back. I am happy to be able to hand it over to you.”
“这本书是您的，先生；请拿回去吧。我很高兴能够把它交给您。”

“But,” said M. Duval with some embarrassment, “the least I can do is to give you in return the price which you paid for it.”
“但是，”杜瓦尔先生有些尴尬地说道，“我至少能够还您购买它的价钱。”

“Allow me to offer it to you. The price of a single volume in a sale of that kind is a mere nothing, and I do not remember how much I gave for it.”
“请允许我送给您。在那样的拍卖会上，一本书的价格微不足道，我已经记不清我为它支付了多少了。”

“You gave one hundred francs.”
“您给了一百法郎。”

“True,” I said, embarrassed in my turn, “how do you know?”
“没错，”我转而感到尴尬，“您怎么知道？”

“It is quite simple. I hoped to reach Paris in time for the sale, and I only managed to get here this morning. —
“很简单。我希望能赶上拍卖会，但直到今早才赶到巴黎。 —

I was absolutely resolved to have something which had belonged to her, and I hastened to the auctioneer and asked him to allow me to see the list of the things sold and of the buyers’ names. —
我下定决心要拥有一些曾属于她的物品，于是我匆忙找到拍卖师，要求他让我看看拍卖品目录和买家的姓名。” —

I saw that this volume had been bought by you, and I decided to ask you to give it up to me, though the price you had set upon it made me fear that you might yourself have some souvenir in connection with the possession of the book.”
我看到这本书被你买走了，于是决定向你请求将它让给我，虽然你所定的价格让我担心你可能对这本书有一些纪念意义。

As he spoke, it was evident that he was afraid I had known Marguerite as he had known her. —
他说这话的时候，显然担心我像他那样认识玛格丽特。 —

I hastened to reassure him.
我急忙安抚他。

“I knew Mlle. Gautier only by sight,” I said; —
我只是从外观上认识高蒂耶小姐，”我说； —

“her death made on me the impression that the death of a pretty woman must always make on a young man who had liked seeing her. —
“她的去世对我产生了一种印象，这种印象会对喜欢看到她的一个年轻人产生影响。 —

I wished to buy something at her sale, and I bid higher and higher for this book out of mere obstinacy and to annoy someone else, who was equally keen to obtain it, and who seemed to defy me to the contest. —
我希望在她的拍卖会上买点东西，于是我不断加价争夺这本书，只是出于固执和为了惹恼另一个同样渴望得到它的人。 —

I repeat, then, that the book is yours, and once more I beg you to accept it; —
因此，我再次重申，这本书是你的，我请求你接受它； —

do not treat me as if I were an auctioneer, and let it be the pledge between us of a longer and more intimate acquaintance.”
请不要把我当作拍卖商，让它成为我们之间更长久、更亲密的联系的象征。”

“Good,” said Armand, holding out his hand and pressing mine; —
“好的，”阿尔芒德说着，伸出手握住我的手； —

“I accept, and I shall be grateful to you all my life.”
“我接受了，并且我会感激你一辈子。”

I was very anxious to question Armand on the subject of Marguerite, for the inscription in the book, the young man’s hurried journey, his desire to possess the volume, piqued my curiosity; —
我非常想询问阿尔芒德关于玛格丽特的事情，因为书上的题词、年轻人匆忙的旅行、他渴望拥有这本书的欲望引起了我的好奇心； —

but I feared if I questioned my visitor that I might seem to have refused his money only in order to have the right to pry into his affairs.
但我担心如果我询问我的访客的话，我可能会显得是为了有权打探他的事情才拒绝了他的钱财。

It was as if he guessed my desire, for he said to me:
好像他猜到了我的愿望，因为他对我说：

“Have you read the volume?”
“你读过这本书吗？”

“All through.”
“全部读完了。”

“What did you think of the two lines that I wrote in it?”
“对于我写在里面的那两行，你觉得怎么样？”

“I realized at once that the woman to whom you had given the volume must have been quite outside the ordinary category, for I could not take those two lines as a mere empty compliment.”
“我一下子就意识到，你送给这本书的那个女人一定是与众不同的，因为我不能将那两行只当作空洞的恭维。”

“You were right. That woman was an angel. See, read this letter. —
“你说得对。那个女人是个天使。看吧，读读这封信。” —

” And he handed to me a paper which seemed to have been many times reread.
然后他递给我一张看上去已经被多次阅读过的纸。

I opened it, and this is what it contained:
我打开了它，里面包含了以下内容：

“MY DEAR ARMAND:—I have received your letter. You are still good, and I thank God for it. —
“亲爱的阿尔芒德：我收到了你的信。你仍然是善良的，我为此感谢上帝。 —

Yes, my friend, I am ill, and with one of those diseases that never relent; —
是的，我的朋友，我病了，而且是那种永不停息的病痛； —

but the interest you still take in me makes my suffering less. —
但你对我的关心使我的痛苦减轻了些。 —

I shall not live long enough, I expect, to have the happiness of pressing the hand which has written the kind letter I have just received; —
我可能活不到能够握住写下这封友善信件的手了； —

the words of it would be enough to cure me, if anything could cure me. —
如果有什么能治愈我的话，那么你信中的这些话足以治愈我。 —

I shall not see you, for I am quite near death, and you are hundreds of leagues away. —
我不会见到你，因为我行将就木，而你却隔着数百里。 —

My poor friend! your Marguerite of old times is sadly changed. —
我可怜的朋友！你曾经深爱的玛格丽特已经发生了可悲的变化。 —

It is better perhaps for you not to see her again than to see her as she is. —
也许不再见她对你来说是更好的选择，否则你会看到她现在的样子。 —

You ask if I forgive you; oh, with all my heart, friend, for the way you hurt me was only a way of proving the love you had for me. —
你问我是否原谅你；哦，我的朋友，我全心全意地原谅你，因为你伤害我只是为了证明你对我的爱。 —

I have been in bed for a month, and I think so much of your esteem that I write every day the journal of my life, from the moment we left each other to the moment when I shall be able to write no longer. —
我已经在床上躺了一个月了，我对你的敬意如此之深，以至于我每天都写下自己的生活日志，从我们分手的那一刻起，直到我无法再写为止。 —

If the interest you take in me is real, Armand, when you come back go and see Julie Duprat. —
如果你真的关心我，阿曼德，在你回来的时候去见朱莉·杜普拉。 —

She will give you my journal. You will find in it the reason and the excuse for what has passed between us. —
她会给你我的日志。你会在其中找到我们之间发生的事情的原因和借口。 —

Julie is very good to me; we often talk of you together. —
朱莉对我非常好，我们经常一起谈论你。 —

She was there when your letter came, and we both cried over it.
当你的信到的时候，她就在那里，我们俩都为此哭了。

“If you had not sent me any word, I had told her to give you those papers when you returned to France. —
“如果你没有给我传信，我本打算让她在你回到法国时把这些文件交给你。 —

Do not thank me for it. This daily looking back on the only happy moments of my life does me an immense amount of good, and if you will find in reading it some excuse for the past. —
不用为此谢我。每天回顾我一生中唯一幸福的时刻对我有着巨大的好处，如果你在阅读中找到了一些过去的借口，我反过来也找到了不断的慰藉。 —

I, for my part, find a continual solace in it. —
对我来说，这是一种持续的慰藉。 —

I should like to leave you something which would always remind you of me, but everything here has been seized, and I have nothing of my own.
我很想给你留下一件能让你永远想起我的东西，但这里的一切都被没收了，我一无所有。

“Do you understand, my friend? I am dying, and from my bed I can hear a man walking to and fro in the drawing-room; —
“朋友，你明白吗？我快不行了，躺在床上我能听到有人在客厅来回走动； —

my creditors have put him there to see that nothing is taken away, and that nothing remains to me in case I do not die. —
我的债主把他放在那里，看着我不能把任何东西带走，以防我不死。 —

I hope they will wait till the end before they begin to sell.
希望他们会等到最后再开始拍卖。

“Oh, men have no pity! or rather, I am wrong, it is God who is just and inflexible!
“哦，人们没有同情心！或者说，我错了，是上帝公正而严厉！

“And now, dear love, you will come to my sale, and you will buy something, for if I put aside the least thing for you, they might accuse you of embezzling seized goods.
“亲爱的，你会来参加我的拍卖，你会买点什么的，因为如果我留下一点东西给你，他们可能会指责你窃取没收的财物。

“It is a sad life that I am leaving!
“我要离开的生活真是悲哀！

“It would be good of God to let me see you again before I die. —
“上帝会让我在死前再见到你，那将是多么美好啊。 —

According to all probability, good-bye, my friend. —
按照一切的可能性，再见了，我的朋友。 —

Pardon me if I do not write a longer letter, but those who say they are going to cure me wear me out with bloodletting, and my hand refuses to write any more.
请原谅我不能写一封更长的信，因为那些声称要治愈我的人让我精疲力竭，我的手也不再写下去。

“MARGUERITE GAUTIER.”
“玛格丽特·戈蒂埃”.

The last two words were scarcely legible. —
最后两个字几乎看不清。 —

I returned the letter to Armand, who had, no doubt, read it over again in his mind while I was reading it on paper, for he said to me as he took it:
我把信还给了阿尔芒德，他无疑在我读信的时候，已经在脑海中再次阅读了一遍，因为他接过信时对我说：

“Who would think that a kept woman could have written that? —
“谁会想到一个被养着的女人会写这样一封信呢？ —

” And, overcome by recollections, he gazed for some time at the writing of the letter, which he finally carried to his lips.
“他被回忆所倾倒，久久凝视着信的字迹，最后把它带到嘴唇上。

“And when I think,” he went on, “that she died before I could see her, and that I shall never see her again, when I think that she did for me what no sister would ever have done, I can not forgive myself for having left her to die like that. —
“当我想到她在我没来得及见到她之前就去世了，而且再也见不到她时，当我想到她为我做了任何姐妹都不会做的事，我无法原谅自己把她置于那样的死亡之中。 —

Dead! Dead and thinking of me, writing and repeating my name, poor dear Marguerite!”
死了！已经死了，但还在思念我，写着并反复重复我的名字，可怜的玛格丽特！

And Armand, giving free outlet to his thoughts and his tears, held out his hand to me, and continued:
阿尔芒德放开内心的思绪和眼泪，伸出了手，继续说道：

“People would think it childish enough if they saw me lament like this over a dead woman such as she; —
“如果人们见到我对这样一个已故的女人如此哀悼，他们可能会认为我很幼稚； —

no one will ever know what I made that woman suffer, how cruel I have been to her! —
没有人会知道我让那个女人承受了多少痛苦，我对她是多么残酷！ —

how good, how resigned she was! I thought it was I who had to forgive her, and to-day I feel unworthy of the forgiveness which she grants me. —
她是多么善良，多么能忍受！我原以为是我需要原谅她，而今天我感到自己不值得她赐予的宽恕。 —

Oh, I would give ten years of my life to weep at her feet for an hour!”
哦，我愿意牺牲我10年的生命，只为在她脚下哭泣一个小时！”

It is always difficult to console a sorrow that is unknown to one, and nevertheless I felt so lively a sympathy for the young man, he made me so frankly the confidant of his distress, that I believed a word from me would not be indifferent to him, and I said:
要安慰一个自己未曾经历过的悲伤总是很困难的，然而我对这个年轻人产生了如此强烈的同情，他对自己的痛苦如此坦诚，以至于我相信我对他说一句话对他来说并不无关紧要，于是我说道：

“Have you no parents, no friends? Hope. Go and see them; —
“你没有父母，没有朋友吗？抱有希望，去找他们吧； —

they will console you. As for me, I can only pity you.”
他们会安慰你的。至于我，我只能同情你。”

“It is true,” he said, rising and walking to and fro in the room, “I am wearying you. —
“没错，”他说着站起身在房间里踱来踱去，“我使你厌烦了。 —

Pardon me, I did not reflect how little my sorrow must mean to you, and that I am intruding upon you something which can not and ought not to interest you at all.”
对不起，我没有意识到我的悲伤对你来说有多么微不足道，我在侵犯你，把一件对你来说不能也不应该感兴趣的事情强加给你。

“You mistake my meaning. I am entirely at your service; —
你误解了我的意思。我完全听候您的吩咐； —

only I regret my inability to calm your distress. —
只是我遗憾地无法平息您的痛苦。 —

If my society and that of my friends can give you any distraction, if, in short, you have need of me, no matter in what way, I hope you will realize how much pleasure it will give me to do anything for you.”
如果我和我的朋友的陪伴能够分散您的注意力，或者，总之，如果您需要我的帮助，无论以何种方式，希望您能意识到为您做任何事情对我来说会带来多大的快乐。

“Pardon, pardon,” said he; “sorrow sharpens the sensations. —
“请原谅，原谅，”他说；”悲伤加剧了感觉。 —

Let me stay here for a few minutes longer, long enough to dry my eyes, so that the idlers in the street may not look upon it as a curiosity to see a big fellow like me crying. —
请让我在这里再待几分钟，足够时间让我眼泪干掉，这样街上的闲人就不会把我这个大个子哭的事看成一件奇事了。 —

You have made me very happy by giving me this book. —
你给了我这本书，让我很高兴。 —

I do not know how I can ever express my gratitude to you.”
我不知道如何表达我的感激之情。

“By giving me a little of your friendship,” said I, “and by telling me the cause of your suffering. —
“通过给我一点点友谊，”我说，” 并告诉我您的痛苦的原因。 —

One feels better while telling what one suffers.”
一个人在倾诉自己的痛苦时会感觉好些。

“You are right. But to-day I have too much need of tears; I can not very well talk. —
“你说得对。但今天我太需要哭泣了，我很难说话。 —

One day I will tell you the whole story, and you will see if I have reason for regretting the poor girl. —
有一天我会告诉你整个故事，你会看到我为什么会对那个可怜的女孩感到后悔。 —

And now,” he added, rubbing his eyes for the last time, and looking at himself in the glass, “say that you do not think me too absolutely idiotic, and allow me to come back and see you another time.”
然后，”他补充说，最后一次揉搓着眼睛，看着镜子里的自己，“说你不认为我太愚蠢，让我再来看你一次。”

He cast on me a gentle and amiable look. I was near embracing him. —
他对我投以温柔而友善的眼神。我忍不住要拥抱他。 —

As for him, his eyes again began to fill with tears; —
至于他，眼泪又开始涌上眼眶； —

he saw that I perceived it and turned away his head.
他看到我看到了，便转过头去。

“Come,” I said, “courage.”
“来吧，”我说，“勇敢一点。”

“Good-bye,” he said.
“再见，”他说。

And, making a desperate effort to restrain his tears, he rushed rather than went out of the room.
他竭力忍住眼泪，冲出房间，而不是走出去。

I lifted the curtain of my window, and saw him get into the cabriolet which awaited him at the door; but scarcely was he seated before he burst into tears and hid his face in his pocket-handkerchief.
我掀起窗帘，看到他坐进门口等候的马车里；但他一坐下就放声大哭，把脸埋在手帕里。