My father was seated in my room in his dressing-gown; —
我父亲身穿睡袍坐在我的房间里； —

he was writing, and I saw at once, by the way in which he raised his eyes to me when I came in, that there was going to be a serious discussion. —
他正在写字，我一进来就看出来了，看他抬起眼睛朝我看来，知道这会是一次严肃的讨论。 —

I went up to him, all the same, as if I had seen nothing in his face, embraced him, and said:
不管怎样，我还是走过去，仿佛没有看出他脸上的表情，拥抱了他，说道：

“When did you come, father?”
“爸爸，你什么时候来的？”

“Last night.”
“昨晚。”

“Did you come straight here, as usual?”
“你像往常一样直接过来了吗？”

“Yes.”
“是的。”

“I am very sorry not to have been here to receive you.”
“很抱歉我没能在这里迎接你。”

I expected that the sermon which my father’s cold face threatened would begin at once; —
我预料到我父亲冷漠的表情意味着他马上要开始布道了； —

but he said nothing, sealed the letter which he had just written, and gave it to Joseph to post.
但他什么也没说，将刚写完的信封上封，交给约瑟夫去寄。

When we were alone, my father rose, and leaning against the mantel-piece, said to me:
当我们独处时，我父亲站起来，靠在壁炉上，对我说：

“My dear Armand, we have serious matters to discuss.”
“亲爱的亚尔芒，我们有一些严肃的事情要讨论。”

“I am listening, father.”
“我在听着，父亲。”

“You promise me to be frank?”
“你答应我会坦诚吗？”

“Am I not accustomed to be so?”
“我不是一直都很坦诚吗？”

“Is it not true that you are living with a woman called Marguerite Gautier?”
“你不是和一个叫玛格丽特·歌蒂埃的女人住在一起吗？”

“Yes.”
“是的。”

“Do you know what this woman was?”
“你知道这个女人是谁吗？”

“A kept woman.”
“一个被养的女人。”

“And it is for her that you have forgotten to come and see your sister and me this year?”
“就是因为她，你今年忘记来看你的姐姐和我了吗？”

“Yes, father, I admit it.”
“是的，父亲，我承认。”

“You are very much in love with this woman?”
“你非常爱这个女人吗？”

“You see it, father, since she has made me fail in duty toward you, for which I humbly ask your forgiveness to-day.”
“你看得出来，父亲，她让我对您的职责失职，我今天向您谦卑地请求原谅。”

My father, no doubt, was not expecting such categorical answers, for he seemed to reflect a moment, and then said to me:
我的父亲无疑没有料到会得到这样明确的回答，因为他似乎思考了一会儿，然后对我说：

“You have, of course, realized that you can not always live like that?”
“你当然意识到你不能总是这样生活吗？”

“I fear so, father, but I have not realized it.”
“我担心是的，父亲，但我还没有意识到。”

“But you must realize,” continued my father, in a dryer tone, “that I, at all events, should not permit it.”
“但你必须意识到，”父亲以一种更冷淡的口吻继续说道，“我无论如何都不会允许。”

“I have said to myself that as long as I did nothing contrary to the respect which I owe to the traditional probity of the family I could live as I am living, and this has reassured me somewhat in regard to the fears I have had.”
“我对自己说过，只要我不违背对家族传统诚信的尊重，我就可以像现在这样生活，这让我对我一直以来有的恐惧感到了一些安慰。”

Passions are formidable enemies to sentiment. —
激情是情感的强大敌人。 —

I was prepared for every struggle, even with my father, in order that I might keep Marguerite.
为了能和玛格丽特在一起，我已为了每一个争斗做好准备，即使是和我父亲之间的争斗。

“Then, the moment is come when you must live otherwise.”
“然后，时刻到了，你必须改变生活方式。”

“Why, father?”
“为什么，父亲？”

“Because you are doing things which outrage the respect that you imagine you have for your family.”
“因为你正在做出违背你对家族尊重的举动。”

“I don’t follow your meaning.”
“我不明白你的意思。”

“I will explain it to you. Have a mistress if you will; —
“我会解释给你听。尽管拥有一个情妇，按照一个有荣誉感的男人应该给他女伴支付的金钱也没问题； —

pay her as a man of honour is bound to pay the woman whom he keeps, by all means; —
但是你出于她的缘故竟然忘记了最神圣的事情，你让我宁静的乡村传出你丑闻满天飞的生活的声音，给我所赐予的光荣姓氏抹上污点，这是不可接受的，也决不允许。” —

but that you should come to forget the most sacred things for her, that you should let the report of your scandalous life reach my quiet countryside, and set a blot on the honourable name that I have given you, it can not, it shall not be.”
“忠诚这样才使你满意？”

“Permit me to tell you, father, that those who have given you information about me have been ill-informed. —
“请允许我告诉您，父亲，那些向您提供关于我的信息的人是被错误地告知了。 —

I am the lover of Mlle. Gautier; I live with her; it is the most natural thing in the world. —
我是高蒂埃小姐的情人；我与她同居；这是再自然不过的事情了。 —

I do not give Mlle. Gautier the name you have given me; —
我没有给高蒂埃小姐起您给我的名字； —

I spend on her account what my means allow me to spend; I have no debts; —
我花费在她身上的钱正好是我财务允许的；我没有债务； —

and, in short, I am not in a position which authorizes a father to say to his son what you have just said to me.”
总之，我没有处于一个父亲有权对他的儿子说出您刚才对我说的那样的境地。”

“A father is always authorized to rescue his son out of evil paths. —
“一个父亲总是有权将自己的儿子从邪恶的道路上拯救出来。 —

You have not done any harm yet, but you will do it.”
你还没有做出任何伤害，但你会这样做。”

“Father!”
“父亲！”

“Sir, I know more of life than you do. —
“先生，我对人生了解得比你多。 —

There are no entirely pure sentiments except in perfectly chaste women. —
只有完全纯洁的女性才有纯粹的情感。 —

Every Manon can have her own Des Grieux, and times are changed. —
每个曼农都可以拥有她自己的德格留，而时代已经改变了。 —

It would be useless for the world to grow older if it did not correct its ways. —
如果世界不纠正自己的错误，它变老也是徒劳的。 —

You will leave your mistress.”
你会离开你的情妇。”

“I am very sorry to disobey you, father, but it is impossible.”
“非常抱歉不听从您的吩咐，父亲，但这是不可能的。”

“I will compel you to do so.”
“我会强迫你这样做。”

“Unfortunately, father, there no longer exists a Sainte Marguerite to which courtesans can be sent, and, even if there were, I would follow Mlle. Gautier if you succeeded in having her sent there. —
“可惜，父亲，圣玛格丽特已经不存在了，无法再派遣妓女去那里。而且，即使有，如果你要成功把她送去那里，我也会跟随高蒂埃小姐。” —

What would you have? Perhaps I am in the wrong, but I can only be happy as long as I am the lover of this woman.”
“你想要什么？也许我错了，但只有当我是这个女人的情人时我才会幸福。”

“Come, Armand, open your eyes. Recognise that it is your father who speaks to you, your father who has always loved you, and who only desires your happiness. —
“来吧，阿尔芒，睁开你的眼睛。认出来，是你的父亲在对你说话，你的父亲一直爱着你，只希望你幸福。” —

Is it honourable for you to live like husband and wife with a woman whom everybody has had?”
“你和一个众人皆知的女人过夫妻生活，这算不算体面？”

“What does it matter, father, if no one will any more? —
“父亲，如果没有人再在意，那又有什么关系呢？” —

What does it matter, if this woman loves me, if her whole life is changed through the love which she has for me and the love which I have for her? —
“如果这个女人爱我，如果她的整个生活都因为她对我的爱和我的爱而改变，那又有什么关系？” —

What does it matter, if she has become a different woman?”
“如果她变成了一个完全不同的女人又有什么关系？”

“Do you think, then, sir, that the mission of a man of honour is to go about converting lost women? —
“你是不是认为，先生，一个有声誉的男人的使命是去改造堕落的女人？” —

Do you think that God has given such a grotesque aim to life, and that the heart should have any room for enthusiasm of that kind? —
你认为上帝给了人生如此恶劣的目标，心中是否应该留有这种热情？ —

What will be the end of this marvellous cure, and what will you think of what you are saying to-day by the time you are forty? —
这个神奇的疗法将会有什么结局？当你四十岁时，你会如何看待今天你所说的话？ —

You will laugh at this love of yours, if you can still laugh, and if it has not left too serious a trace in your past. —
如果你还能笑得出来，如果这份爱没有在你的过去留下太严重的痕迹，你将会嘲笑自己的爱情。 —

What would you be now if your father had had your ideas and had given up his life to every impulse of this kind, instead of rooting himself firmly in convictions of honour and steadfastness? —
如果你的父亲有你这样的想法，放弃了他的生活，而是根深蒂固地坚守荣誉和稳定的信念，你现在会是什么样子？ —

Think it over, Armand, and do not talk any more such absurdities. —
仔细考虑一下，阿尔芒，不要再说这样荒谬的话了。 —

Come, leave this woman; your father entreats you.”
来吧，离开这个女人；你父亲恳求你。

I answered nothing.
我没有回答。

“Armand,” continued my father, “in the name of your sainted mother, abandon this life, which you will forget more easily than you think. —
“阿尔芒，以你已故的母亲之名，放弃这种生活，你会比你想象得更容易忘记它。 —

You are tied to it by an impossible theory. You are twenty-four; think of the future. —
你被一种不可能的理论束缚着。你已经二十四岁了，想想未来吧。 —

You can not always love this woman, who also can not always love you. —
你不可能总是爱这个女人，她也不可能总是爱你。 —

You both exaggerate your love. You put an end to your whole career. —
你们都夸大了你们的爱情。你们将结束你们的整个事业。 —

One step further, and you will no longer be able to leave the path you have chosen, and you will suffer all your life for what you have done in your youth. —
再往前一步，你将无法离开你选择的道路，你将终生为自己年轻时所做的事情而痛苦。 —

Leave Paris. Come and stay for a month or two with your sister and me. —
离开巴黎吧。跟你姐姐和我呆上一个月或两个月。 —

Rest in our quiet family affection will soon heal you of this fever, for it is nothing else. —
在我们安静的家庭情感中休息，将很快治愈你的发烧，因为这只是一时的。 —

Meanwhile, your mistress will console herself; she will take another lover; —
与此同时，你的情人会自我安慰；她会找一个新的情人； —

and when you see what it is for which you have all but broken with your father, and all but lost his love, you will tell me that I have done well to come and seek you out, and you will thank me for it. —
当你看到为了这个你几乎与你父亲决裂，几乎失去了他的爱的原因时，你会告诉我我找对了你，你会感谢我。 —

Come, you will go with me, Armand, will you not? —
来吧，你会跟我一起去的，Armand，对吗？ —

” I felt that my father would be right if it had been any other woman, but I was convinced that he was wrong with regard to Marguerite. —
我感觉如果换成其他女人，我父亲可能是对的，但我相信他在关于Marguerite的问题上是错的。 —

Nevertheless, the tone in which he said these last words was so kind, so appealing, that I dared not answer.
然而，他说这最后几句话的语气是如此温和，如此吸引人，以至于我不敢回答。

“Well?” said he in a trembling voice.
他颤抖着说：“好吧？”

“Well, father, I can promise nothing,” I said at last; —
“好吧，父亲，我不能作出任何承诺，”我最后说道； —

“what you ask of me is beyond my power. —
“你向我提出的要求超出了我的能力。 —

Believe me,” I continued, seeing him make an impatient movement, “you exaggerate the effects of this liaison. —
相信我，”我继续说，看到他不耐烦地动了一下，“你夸大了这段关系的影响。 —

Marguerite is a different kind of a woman from what you think. —
玛格丽特与你想的完全不同。 —

This love, far from leading me astray, is capable, on the contrary, of setting me in the right direction. —
这份爱情，远非会使我岔路的，相反，它能引导我走上正确的道路。 —

Love always makes a man better, no matter what woman inspires it. —
无论是什么样的女人激发了爱情，它总能使人变得更好。 —

If you knew Marguerite, you would understand that I am in no danger. —
如果你了解玛格丽特，你会明白我没有危险。 —

She is as noble as the noblest of women. —
她和最高尚的女性一样高贵。 —

There is as much disinterestedness in her as there is cupidity in others.”
她的无私程度不亚于其他人的贪婪。”

“All of which does not prevent her from accepting the whole of your fortune, for the sixty thousand francs which come to you from your mother, and which you are giving her, are, understand me well, your whole fortune.”
“尽管如此，这并不能阻止她接受你全部的财产，因为你从母亲那里得到的六万法郎，你正在把它给她，懂我的意思吗，那是你全部的财产。”

My father had probably kept this peroration and this threat for the last stroke. —
我父亲可能是把这番话和威胁留到最后一击。 —

I was firmer before these threats than before his entreaties.
对于这些威胁，我比对于他的恳求更坚定。

“Who told you that I was handing this sum to her?” I asked.
“谁告诉你我要给她这笔钱？”我问道。

“My solicitor. Could an honest man carry out such a procedure without warning me? —
“我的律师告诉我。一个正派人能做出这样的手续而不提前通知我吗？ —

Well, it is to prevent you from ruining yourself for a prostitute that I am now in Paris. Your mother, when she died, left you enough to live on respectably, and not to squander on your mistresses.”
好吧，我现在在巴黎就是为了阻止你为了一个妓女毁了自己。当你母亲去世时，她留给你足够体面生活的钱，而不是浪费在你的情人身上。”

“I swear to you, father, that Marguerite knew nothing of this transfer.”
“我向你发誓，父亲，玛格丽特对这笔转账一无所知。”

“Why, then, do you make it?”
“那么你为什么要转账呢？”

“Because Marguerite, the woman you calumniate, and whom you wish me to abandon, is sacrificing all that she possesses in order to live with me.”
“因为玛格丽特，你诽谤的那个女人，你希望我离开她的人，正在牺牲她所有的财产来和我在一起生活。”

“And you accept this sacrifice? What sort of a man are you, sir, to allow Mlle. Gautier to sacrifice anything for you? —
“你接受这个牺牲吗？你是什么样的人，先生，竟然让歌蒂埃为你牺牲？” —

Come, enough of this. You will leave this woman. Just now I begged you; now I command you. —
“够了，别说了。你会离开这个女人。刚才我请求你，现在我命令你。” —

I will have no such scandalous doings in my family. —
“我的家里可不能有这种丑闻。” —

Pack up your things and get ready to come with me.”
“收拾好你的东西，准备好跟我走。”

“Pardon me, father,” I said, “but I shall not come.”
“对不起，父亲，我不会走。”

“And why?”
“为什么？”

“Because I am at an age when no one any longer obeys a command.”
“因为我已经到了不再听从命令的年龄。”

My father turned pale at my answer.
我的父亲听了我的回答后脸色苍白。

“Very well, sir,” he said, “I know what remains to be done.”
“很好，先生，我知道还有什么要做的。”

He rang and Joseph appeared.
他按铃，约瑟夫出现了。

“Have my things taken to the Hotel de Paris,” he said to my servant. —
“把我的东西送到巴黎酒店去，”他对我的仆人说。 —

And thereupon he went to his room and finished dressing. —
于是他去了自己的房间，继续打扮。 —

When he returned, I went up to him.
当他回来时，我走到他面前。

“Promise me, father,” I said, “that you will do nothing to give Marguerite pain?”
“父亲，答应我，不要做任何让玛格丽特难过的事情好吗？”

My father stopped, looked at me disdainfully, and contented himself with saying, “I believe you are mad. —
我父亲停下来，鄙夷地看着我，只是简单地说：“我觉得你疯了。” —

” After this he went out, shutting the door violently after him.
“他随后出去，狠狠地关上了门。”

I went downstairs, took a cab, and returned to Bougival.
“我下楼，乘坐出租车回到了布吉瓦尔。”

Marguerite was waiting for me at the window.
“玛格丽特在窗前等着我。”