At five o’clock in the morning, as the light began to appear through the curtains, Marguerite said to me: —
在早晨五点钟，当阳光透过窗帘透射进来时，玛格丽特对我说： —

“Forgive me if I send you away; but I must. The duke comes every morning; —
“请原谅我如果我打发你离开；但我必须这样做。公爵每天早上都会来； —

they will tell him, when he comes, that I am asleep, and perhaps he will wait until I wake.”
当他来的时候，他们会告诉他我正在睡觉，也许他会等到我醒来。”

I took Marguerite’s head in my hands; her loosened hair streamed about her; —
我用双手托住玛格丽特的头发，她散开的秀发飘落在她身旁； —

I gave her a last kiss, saying: “When shall I see you again?”
我给了她最后一个吻，说：“我什么时候能再见到你呢？”

“Listen,” she said; “take the little gilt key on the mantelpiece, open that door; —
“听着，”她说，“拿起壁炉架上的那把小金钥匙，打开那扇门； —

bring me back the key and go. In the course of the day you shall have a letter, and my orders, for you know you are to obey blindly.”
把钥匙带回来后离开。今天过程中你会收到一封信和我的命令，你知道你必须盲从。”

“Yes; but if I should already ask for something?”
“好的；但是如果我现在就要求一件事呢？”

“What?”
“什么事？”

“Let me have that key.”
“给我那把钥匙。”

“What you ask is a thing I have never done for anyone.”
“你所要求的是我从未为任何人做过的事情。”

“Well, do it for me, for I swear to you that I don’t love you as the others have loved you.”
“好吧，为了我，做一次吧，因为我发誓我不像其他人那样爱你。”

“Well, keep it; but it only depends on me to make it useless to you, after all.”
“好吧，保留它吧；但是我完全可以让它对你没有用，这全凭我一念之间。”

“How?”
“怎么做到的？”

“There are bolts on the door.”
“门上有螺栓。”

“Wretch!”
“卑鄙的家伙！”

“I will have them taken off.”
“我会让它们拆掉。”

“You love, then, a little?”
“那么，你只喜欢一点？”

“I don’t know how it is, but it seems to me as if I do! —
“我不知道为什么，但我觉得好像是的！” —

Now, go; I can’t keep my eyes open.”
“现在，走吧；我睁不开眼睛了。”

I held her in my arms for a few seconds and then went.
我抱着她几秒钟，然后离开了。

The streets were empty, the great city was still asleep, a sweet freshness circulated in the streets that a few hours later would be filled with the noise of men. —
街道上空无一人，这座大城市还在沉睡中，街道上弥漫着一股甜蜜的清新气息，几个小时后街道上就会充满人声喧嚣。 —

It seemed to me as if this sleeping city belonged to me; —
对我来说，好像这个沉睡中的城市属于我； —

I searched my memory for the names of those whose happiness I had once envied; —
我搜索记忆中那些我曾经羡慕过的人的名字； —

and I could not recall one without finding myself the happier.
找不到一个名字时，我发现自己更加幸福。

To be loved by a pure young girl, to be the first to reveal to her the strange mystery of love, is indeed a great happiness, but it is the simplest thing in the world. —
被一个纯洁的年轻女孩爱着，成为她了解爱的奇妙的第一个人，确实是一种巨大的幸福，但这却是世界上最简单的事情。 —

To take captive a heart which has had no experience of attack, is to enter an unfortified and ungarrisoned city. —
夺取一个从未经历过攻击的心，就像进入一座没有设防和驻军的城市。 —

Education, family feeling, the sense of duty, the family, are strong sentinels, but there are no sentinels so vigilant as not to be deceived by a girl of sixteen to whom nature, by the voice of the man she loves, gives the first counsels of love, all the more ardent because they seem so pure.
教育、家庭情感、责任感是强大的守护者，但没有哪个守护者如此警觉，不能被一个十六岁的女孩所欺骗，自然界通过男人所爱之声向她传递的，是那样纯洁而又炽热的初恋忠告。

The more a girl believes in goodness, the more easily will she give way, if not to her lover, at least to love, for being without mistrust she is without force, and to win her love is a triumph that can be gained by any young man of five-and-twenty. —
一个女孩对善良的信仰越坚定，她就越容易屈服于爱情，即使不是对她的情人，至少也会对爱情屈服，因为她没有戒心，所以她没有力量，所以她的爱情可以被任何二十五岁的男子所俘获。 —

See how young girls are watched and guarded! —
看看年轻女孩是如何被看守和保护的！ —

The walls of convents are not high enough, mothers have no locks strong enough, religion has no duties constant enough, to shut these charming birds in their cages, cages not even strewn with flowers. —
修道院的围墙再高也不够，母亲没有坚固的锁，宗教没有足够不变的职责，来将这些迷人的小鸟们关在她们的笼子里，这些笼子甚至没有铺满花朵。 —

Then how surely must they desire the world which is hidden from them, how surely must they find it tempting, how surely must they listen to the first voice which comes to tell its secrets through their bars, and bless the hand which is the first to raise a corner of the mysterious veil!
他们对那个隐藏在他们面前的世界必然充满渴望，那个令人诱惑的世界，必然会听从第一个告诉他们其中秘密的声音，并且祝福第一个揭开神秘面纱的人！

But to be really loved by a courtesan: that is a victory of infinitely greater difficulty. —
但要真正被妓女爱上：这是一项无比艰巨的胜利。 —

With them the body has worn out the soul, the senses have burned up the heart, dissipation has blunted the feelings. —
他们的身体已经磨灭了灵魂，感官已经燃尽了心灵，消散已经麻木了感情。 —

They have long known the words that we say to them, the means we use; —
他们长久以来已经知道我们对他们说的话，我们使用的手段； —

they have sold the love that they inspire. They love by profession, and not by instinct. —
他们已经出卖了他们所激发的爱。他们以职业的身份去爱，而不是出于本能。 —

They are guarded better by their calculations than a virgin by her mother and her convent; —
他们被他们的计算更好地保护着，就像处女被她的母亲和修道院保护着一样； —

and they have invented the word caprice for that unbartered love which they allow themselves from time to time, for a rest, for an excuse, for a consolation, like usurers, who cheat a thousand, and think they have bought their own redemption by once lending a sovereign to a poor devil who is dying of hunger without asking for interest or a receipt.
人们创造了“突发奇想”这个词，用来形容他们偶尔对那种未经交换的爱的纵容。这种爱是他们给自己的休息、借口和安慰，就像放高利贷的人欺骗别人一千次，然后因为借给一个快要饿死的可怜人一枚金币而以为得到了救赎，而不需要利息或收据。

Then, when God allows love to a courtesan, that love, which at first seems like a pardon, becomes for her almost without penitence. —
然后，当上帝允许一个妓女拥有爱情时，这个爱情开始时像一种宽恕，对她来说几乎没有后悔之情。 —

When a creature who has all her past to reproach herself with is taken all at once by a profound, sincere, irresistible love, of which she had never felt herself capable; —
当一个曾经因为过去而自责的人突然被一种深沉、真挚、无法抵挡的爱所充满时，她从未意识到自己能够拥有这种爱。 —

when she has confessed her love, how absolutely the man whom she loves dominates her! —
当她表白了她的爱之后，她所爱的那个人是如此地控制着她。 —

How strong he feels with his cruel right to say: —
他感到自己的权利强大，可以残忍地说： —

You do no more for love than you have done for money. They know not what proof to give. —
你对爱情的付出不比你对金钱的付出多。他们不知道该给出什么样的证明。 —

A child, says the fable, having often amused himself by crying “Help! a wolf! —
寓言中说，有一个孩子常常玩弄着喊“救命！狼来啦！”的游戏。 —

” in order to disturb the labourers in the field, was one day devoured by a Wolf, because those whom he had so often deceived no longer believed in his cries for help. —
“为了扰乱田地里的劳动者，有一天被一只狼吞噬了，因为那些他曾经多次愚弄的人不再相信他的求救声。 —

It is the same with these unhappy women when they love seriously. —
当这些不幸的女人认真地去爱时，情况就是一样的。 —

They have lied so often that no one will believe them, and in the midst of their remorse they are devoured by their love.
他们撒了太多的谎，以至于没有人会相信他们，而在他们的悔恨中，他们被他们的爱吞噬。

Hence those great devotions, those austere retreats from the world, of which some of them have given an example.
因此，有些人给出了这些伟大的献身和离世的榜样。

But when the man who inspires this redeeming love is great enough in soul to receive it without remembering the past, when he gives himself up to it, when, in short, he loves as he is loved, this man drains at one draught all earthly emotions, and after such a love his heart will be closed to every other.
但当能够激发这种救赎之爱的人的心灵足够伟大，能够不再记得过去时，当他全心全意地投入其中，当他像被爱一样去爱时，这个人会一饮而尽所有尘世的情感，而在这样一种爱情之后，他的心将对其他一切关闭。

I did not make these reflections on the morning when I returned home. —
当我回到家的那个早上，我没有做出这些思考。” —

They could but have been the presentiment of what was to happen to me, and, despite my love for Marguerite, I did not foresee such consequences. —
他们或许只是我预感到即将发生的事情，尽管我对玛格丽特充满爱意，但我没有预料到这样的后果。 —

I make these reflections to-day. Now that all is irrevocably ended, they arise naturally out of what has taken place.
我现在做出这些思考。既然一切都无法挽回，这些思考自然而然地出现了。

But to return to the first day of my liaison. —
但要回到我们开始交往的第一天。 —

When I reached home I was in a state of mad gaiety. —
当我回到家时，我充满了疯狂的快乐。 —

As I thought of how the barriers which my imagination had placed between Marguerite and myself had disappeared, of how she was now mine; —
当我想到我想象中存在于玛格丽特和我之间的障碍消失了，想到她现在是我的；想到我在她的思想中占有的地位，想到我口袋里握着她房间的钥匙，以及我有权使用这把钥匙时，我对生活感到满意，为自己感到骄傲，并且我爱上帝，因为他让这些事情发生了。 —

of the place I now had in her thoughts, of the key to her room which I had in my pocket, and of my right to use this key, I was satisfied with life, proud of myself, and I loved God because he had let such things be.
有一天，一个年轻人走在街上，他擦肩而过一个女人，看了她一眼，然后转身继续走路。

One day a young man is passing in the street, he brushes against a woman, looks at her, turns, goes on his way. —
他不认识这个女人，而她却有属于她自己的欢乐、痛苦和爱，与他无关。 —

He does not know the woman, and she has pleasures, griefs, loves, in which he has no part. —
—

He does not exist for her, and perhaps, if he spoke to her, she would only laugh at him, as Marguerite had laughed at me. —
对她来说，他对她来说根本不存在，也许，如果他和她说话，她只会嘲笑他，就像玛格丽特嘲笑我一样。 —

Weeks, months, years pass, and all at once, when they have each followed their fate along a different path, the logic of chance brings them face to face. —
周周月月年年过去了，当他们各自追随着不同的命运走过一段距离后，偶然的逻辑让他们面对面地相遇。 —

The woman becomes the man’s mistress and loves him. How? why? —
这个女人成为了这个男人的情妇并爱他。怎么会这样？为什么会这样？ —

Their two existences are henceforth one; —
从此，他们的两个存在合而为一； —

they have scarcely begun to know one another when it seems as if they had known one another always, and all that had gone before is wiped out from the memory of the two lovers. —
他们几乎刚开始互相了解，就仿佛彼此一直相识一样，之前发生的一切在这两个恋人的记忆中都被抹去了。 —

It is curious, one must admit.
这真是奇怪，人们必须承认。

As for me, I no longer remembered how I had lived before that night. —
至于我，我不再记得之前我是如何生活的。 —

My whole being was exalted into joy at the memory of the words we had exchanged during that first night. —
我的整个存在因为记得我们在那个第一夜互相交流的话语而兴奋不已。 —

Either Marguerite was very clever in deception, or she had conceived for me one of those sudden passions which are revealed in the first kiss, and which die, often enough, as suddenly as they were born.
或许玛格丽特在欺骗方面非常聪明，或者她对我产生了一种由第一个吻揭示的那种突然的爱情，这种爱情往往和它的诞生一样突然地消逝。

The more I reflected the more I said to myself that Marguerite had no reason for feigning a love which she did not feel, and I said to myself also that women have two ways of loving, one of which may arise from the other: —
我越是思考，就越发觉玛格丽特没有理由假装一种她并不感受的爱，我也想到女人有两种爱的方式，其中一种可能产生于另一种： —

they love with the heart or with the senses. —
她们可以用心去爱，也可以用感官去爱。 —

Often a woman takes a lover in obedience to the mere will of the senses, and learns without expecting it the mystery of immaterial love, and lives henceforth only through her heart; —
常常女人出于任凭感官的意愿而寻求情人，却在不经意间领悟到非物质爱的奥秘，从此只靠着内心生活； —

often a girl who has sought in marriage only the union of two pure affections receives the sudden revelation of physical love, that energetic conclusion of the purest impressions of the soul.
有时一位原本只在婚姻中寻求纯洁情感的女孩突然意识到身体的爱，这是纯净的灵魂感受的强有力结论。

In the midst of these thoughts I fell asleep; —
在这些思绪中，我入睡了； —

I was awakened by a letter from Marguerite containing these words:
我被玛格丽特的一封信惊醒了，信里写着这些话：

“Here are my orders: To-night at the Vaudeville.
“这是我的命令：今晚在歌舞剧院见面。”

“Come during the third entr’acte.”
“在第三幕间歇时来。”

I put the letter into a drawer, so that I might always have it at hand in case I doubted its reality, as I did from time to time.
我把信放在抽屉里，这样我可以随时保持信的实际存在，因为有时我会怀疑它是否真实。

She did not tell me to come to see her during the day, and I dared not go; —
她没有告诉我白天来找她，而我也不敢去； —

but I had so great a desire to see her before the evening that I went to the Champs-Elysées, where I again saw her pass and repass, as I had on the previous day.
但是我非常渴望在晚上之前见到她，所以我去了香榭丽舍大街，我又看到她来来回回地走过，就像前一天一样；

At seven o’clock I was at the Vaudeville. Never had I gone to a theatre so early. —
七点的时候我就在歌剧院了，我从来没有这么早去过剧院； —

The boxes filled one after another. Only one remained empty, the stage box. —
包厢一个接一个地坐满了，只有一个保持空着，那就是正厅的包厢； —

At the beginning of the third act I heard the door of the box, on which my eyes had been almost constantly fixed, open, and Marguerite appeared. —
在第三幕开始的时候，我听到我一直盯着的那个包厢的门开了，玛格丽特出现了； —

She came to the front at once, looked around the stalls, saw me, and thanked me with a look.
她立刻走到前面，环视着正厅，看到我后，用眼神向我表示感谢；

That night she was marvellously beautiful. Was I the cause of this coquetry? —
那天晚上她异常美丽，是我引起了她的这种风情吗？ —

Did she love me enough to believe that the more beautiful she looked the happier I should be? —
她是不是爱我到足以相信她越美丽我越快乐呢？ —

I did not know, but if that had been her intention she certainly succeeded, for when she appeared all heads turned, and the actor who was then on the stage looked to see who had produced such an effect on the audience by her mere presence there.
我并不知道，但如果这是她的意图的话，她确实成功了，因为她出现的时候，所有人的目光都转向了她，正在舞台上演出的演员也回头看了一眼，想看看是什么样的存在能够仅凭她在那里的存在对观众产生如此大的影响。

And I had the key of this woman’s room, and in three or four hours she would again be mine!
而我有这个女人房间的钥匙，再过三四个小时，她就会重新属于我！

People blame those who let themselves be ruined by actresses and kept women; —
人们责怪那些被女演员和二奶摧毁的人； —

what astonishes me is that twenty times greater follies are not committed for them. —
令我惊讶的是，为了她们居然没有发生更大的愚蠢行为。 —

One must have lived that life, as I have, to know how much the little vanities which they afford their lovers every day help to fasten deeper into the heart, since we have no other word for it, the love which he has for them.
只有像我一样生活过那种生活的人才知道，她们每天给她们的情人带来的一点点虚荣心有多么能够加深他对她们的爱情。

Prudence next took her place in the box, and a man, whom I recognised as the Comte de G., seated himself at the back. —
普鲁登斯随后在包厢里坐了下来，一个我认识的男人，我认出他是G伯爵，坐在了后排。 —

As I saw him, a cold shiver went through my heart.
当我看到他时，我的心里一阵寒意涌上来。

Doubtless Marguerite perceived the impression made on me by the presence of this man, for she smiled to me again, and, turning her back to the count, appeared to be very attentive to the play. —
毫无疑问，玛格丽特察觉到了我对这位男士的注意，因为她对我微笑了一下，然后背对着伯爵，看起来非常专注地看着戏。 —

At the third entr’acte she turned and said two words: —
在第三个幕间休息时，她转过身来，对我说了两个字： —

the count left the box, and Marguerite beckoned to me to come to her.
伯爵离开了包厢，玛格丽特向我招手让我过去。

“Good-evening,” she said as I entered, holding out her hand.
“晚上好，”我走进包厢时，她伸出手对我说。

“Good-evening,” I replied to both Marguerite and Prudence.
我向玛格丽特和普吕登斯都回答道：“晚上好。”

“Sit down.”
“请坐。”

“But I am taking someone’s place. Isn’t the Comte de G. coming back?”
“但我是在占用别人的位置吧。伯爵不会回来吗？”

“Yes; I sent him to fetch some sweets, so that we could talk by ourselves for a moment. —
“是的，我让他去买些糖果，这样我们可以独处一会儿。” —

Mme. Duvernoy is in on the secret.”
杜芙诺伊夫人了解这个秘密。

“Yes, my children,” said she; “have no fear. I shall say nothing.”
“是的，孩子们，”她说道，“不用害怕，我什么都不会说。”

“What is the matter with you to-night? —
“你今晚怎么了？” —

” said Marguerite, rising and coming to the back of the box and kissing me on the forehead.
玛格丽特站起身，走到包厢后面，亲了亲我的额头。

“I am not very well.”
“我觉得不太舒服。”

“You should go to bed,” she replied, with that ironical air which went so well with her delicate and witty face.
“你应该上床睡觉。”她回答道，说话的语气带着讽刺，与她那精致而风趣的脸庞相得益彰。

“Where?”
“去哪儿？”

“At home.”
“回家。”

“You know that I shouldn’t be able to sleep there.”
“你知道我在那儿睡不着。”

“Well, then, it won’t do for you to come and be pettish here because you have seen a man in my box.”
“那么，如果你因为在我的包厢里见到一个男人而生气，就不要来这里发脾气了。”

“It is not for that reason.”
“不是因为那个原因。”

“Yes, it is. I know; and you are wrong, so let us say no more about it. —
“是的，就是因为那个原因。我知道，你错了，所以我们别再谈这个了。” —

You will go back with Prudence after the theatre, and you will stay there till I call. —
你会和普鲁登斯一起回去剧院后，待在那里，直到我叫你来。 —

Do you understand?”
你明白吗？

“Yes.”
“明白。”

How could I disobey?
我怎么能不听话呢？

“You still love me?”
“你还爱我吗？”

“Can you ask?”
“你还问吗？”

“You have thought of me?”
“你有想过我吗？”

“All day long.”
“一整天都想着你。”

“Do you know that I am really afraid that I shall get very fond of you? Ask Prudence.”
“你知道吗，我真的很害怕我会变得非常喜欢你。问问智慧。”

“Ah,” said she, “it is amazing!”
“啊，”她说，“真是令人惊讶！”

“Now, you must go back to your seat. The count will be coming back, and there is nothing to be gained by his finding you here.”
“现在你必须回到你的座位上。伯爵马上要回来了，你在这里没有获得任何好处。”

“Because you don’t like seeing him.”
“因为你不喜欢看到他。”

“No; only if you had told me that you wanted to come to the Vaudeville to-night I could have got this box for you as well as he.”
“不，只是如果你告诉我你想今晚来看杂剧的话，我也可以给你弄到这个包厢，就像他一样。”

“Unfortunately, he got it for me without my asking him, and he asked me to go with him; —
“不幸的是，他没有我要求就给我预订了，他要我和他一起去； —

you know well enough that I couldn’t refuse. —
你很清楚我不能拒绝。 —

All I could do was to write and tell you where I was going, so that you could see me, and because I wanted to see you myself; —
我所能做的就是给你写信告诉你我要去哪里，这样你才能见到我，而且因为我也想见到你； —

but since this is the way you thank me, I shall profit by the lesson.”
但既然你这样感谢我，我将从中受教。”

“I was wrong; forgive me.”
“我错了，原谅我。”

“Well and good; and now go back nicely to your place, and, above all, no more jealousy.”
“那好，现在乖乖回去你的位置，最重要的是，不要再嫉妒了。”

She kissed me again, and I left the box. —
她再次吻了我一下，然后我离开了包厢。 —

In the passage I met the count coming back. —
在走廊上，我遇到了正在回来的伯爵。 —

I returned to my seat.
我回到了我的座位。

After all, the presence of M. de G. in Marguerite’s box was the most natural thing in the world. —
毕竟，德·G先生在玛格丽特的包厢里是再自然不过的事情了。 —

He had been her lover, he sent her a box, he accompanied her to the theatre; —
他曾经是她的情人，他给她送了一箱子东西，他陪她去看戏； —

it was all quite natural, and if I was to have a mistress like Marguerite I should have to get used to her ways.
这一切都很自然，如果我要有一个像玛格丽特这样的情妇，我得习惯她的方式。

Nonetheless, I was very unhappy all the rest of the evening, and went away very sadly after having seen Prudence, the count, and Marguerite get into the carriage, which was waiting for them at the door.
然而，整个晚上我都感到非常不开心，看着普鲁登丝、伯爵和玛格丽特走进门口等着他们的马车后，我悲伤地离开了。

However, a quarter of an hour later I was at Prudence’s. She had only just got in.
然而，15分钟后我就来到了普鲁登丝的地方。她刚刚回来。