Armand, tired by this long narrative, often interrupted by his tears, put his two hands over his forehead and closed his eyes to think, or to try to sleep, after giving me the pages written by the hand of Marguerite. —
阿尔芒德,疲倦于这段冗长的叙述，经常因眼泪而中断，他把两只手放在额头上，闭上眼睛思考或试图睡觉，之后把玛格丽特亲手写的那几页给了我。 —

A few minutes after, a more rapid breathing told me that Armand slept, but that light sleep which the least sound banishes.
几分钟后，更快的呼吸告诉我阿尔芒德睡着了，但那种轻微的睡眠却被最小的声音所打扰。

This is what I read; I copy it without adding or omitting a syllable:
以下是我所读到的内容；我逐字逐句地复制，没有增加或省略一丝一毫：

To-day is the 15th December. I have been ill three or four days. This morning I stayed in bed. —
今天是12月15日。我已经病了三四天。今天早上我一直躺在床上。 —

The weather is dark, I am sad; there is no one by me. I think of you, Armand. —
天气很阴暗，我很伤心；我身旁没有人。我在想你，阿尔芒德。 —

And you, where are you, while I write these lines? —
而你，当我写下这些字的时候，你在哪里？ —

Far from Paris, far, far, they tell me, and perhaps you have already forgotten Marguerite. —
他们告诉我，你远离巴黎，远远的，也许你已经忘记了玛格丽特。 —

Well, be happy; I owe you the only happy moments in my life.
好吧，祝你幸福；我欠你生命中唯一的快乐时刻。

I can not help wanting to explain all my conduct to you, and I have written you a letter; —
我忍不住想要向你解释我的一切行为，所以我给你写了一封信； —

but, written by a girl like me, such a letter might seem to be a lie, unless death had sanctified it by its authority, and, instead of a letter, it were a confession.
然而，像我这样的女孩写的一封信可能会被看作是谎言，除非死亡以它的权威使其神圣化，而且，它不是一封信，而是一个忏悔。

To-day I am ill; I may die of this illness, for I have always had the presentiment that I shall die young. —
今天我病了；我可能会死于这种疾病，因为我一直有个预感我会年轻死去。 —

My mother died of consumption, and the way I have always lived could but increase the only heritage she ever left me. —
我的母亲死于肺结核，而我一直以来的生活方式只能加速这个她曾留给我的唯一传承的疾病。 —

But I do not want to die without clearing up for you everything about me; —
但是我不想离世前不为你解开关于我的一切之谜； —

that is, if, when you come back, you will still trouble yourself about the poor girl whom you loved before you went away.
也就是说，如果你回来时还会为那个在你离开之前你所爱的可怜姑娘而忧心忡忡的话。

This is what the letter contained; I shall like writing it over again, so as to give myself another proof of my own justification.
这就是这封信的内容；我很想把它重新写一遍，以便给自己另一个自我证明。

You remember, Armand, how the arrival of your father surprised us at Bougival; —
阿尔芒，你还记得你父亲突然出现在布吉瓦尔时我们的惊慌吗； —

you remember the involuntary fright that his arrival caused me, and the scene which took place between you and him, which you told me of in the evening.
你还记得他的到来给我带来的无意识的恐惧以及晚上你告诉我的你们之间发生的场景吗。

Next day, when you were at Paris, waiting for your father, and he did not return, a man came to the door and handed in a letter from M. Duval.
第二天，当你在巴黎等候父亲，而他没有回来时，一个人来到门口，递来了一封杜瓦尔先生的信。

His letter, which I inclose with this, begged me, in the most serious terms, to keep you away on the following day, on some excuse or other, and to see your father, who wished to speak to me, and asked me particularly not to say anything to you about it.
他的信，我在此附上，以最严肃的措辞请求我找个借口把你拖延到第二天，并见你的父亲，他想和我谈谈，特别要求我不要对你透露任何事情。

You know how I insisted on your returning to Paris next day.
你知道我是如何坚持让你第二天回到巴黎的。

You had only been gone an hour when your father presented himself. —
你走了一个小时后，你父亲出现了。 —

I won’t say what impression his severe face made upon me. —
我不敢说他那严厉的脸给我造成了什么样的印象。 —

Your father had the old theory that a courtesan is a being without heart or reason, a sort of machine for coining gold, always ready, like the machine, to bruise the hand that gives her everything, and to tear in pieces, without pity or discernment, those who set her in motion.
你父亲坚持认为一个妓女是一个没有心灵或理智的存在，是一种可以印钞的机器，总是准备好像机器一样伤害给予她一切的手，毫不怜悯和辨别地撕碎推动她运转的人。

Your father had written me a very polite letter, in order that I might consent to see him; —
你父亲写了封非常有礼貌的信给我，希望我同意见他。 —

he did not present himself quite as he had written. —
他的亲自表现并不像他写的那样。 —

His manner at first was so stiff, insolent, and even threatening, that I had to make him understand that I was in my own house, and that I had no need to render him an account of my life, except because of the sincere affection which I had for his son.
他一开始的态度非常拘谨、傲慢甚至威胁，我不得不让他明白我是在自己的家里，我无需对我的生活向他交代，除非是因为我对他儿子怀有真挚的感情。

M. Duval calmed down a little, but still went on to say that he could not any longer allow his son to ruin himself over me; —
杜瓦尔先生稍微冷静下来了，但还是继续说他不能再允许他儿子为了我而毁掉自己； —

that I was beautiful, it was true, but, however beautiful I might be, I ought not to make use of my beauty to spoil the future of a young man by such expenditure as I was causing.
尽管我很美丽，但我不应该利用我的美丽通过我所造成的开销来破坏一个年轻人的未来。

At that there was only one thing to do, to show him the proof that since I was your mistress I had spared no sacrifice to be faithful to you without asking for more money than you had to give me. —
面对这种情况，我只能做一件事，就是向他展示证据，证明自从我成为你的情妇以来，我为了忠诚于你，不曾向你索取超过你能给予我的金钱。 —

I showed him the pawn tickets, the receipts of the people to whom I had sold what I could not pawn; —
我向他展示了典当票，我出售无法典当的物品的收据； —

I told him of my resolve to part with my furniture in order to pay my debts, and live with you without being a too heavy expense. —
我告诉他，为了还债并且不给你造成太大负担，我决定将我的家具变卖，并和你一起生活。 —

I told him of our happiness, of how you had shown me the possibility of a quieter and happier life, and he ended by giving in to the evidence, offering me his hand, and asking pardon for the way in which he had at first approached me.
我告诉他我们的幸福，你如何向我展示了一种更平静、更快乐的生活的可能性。他最终顺从于事实，伸出了他的手，请求原谅他最初对我采取的方式。

Then he said to me:
然后他对我说：

“So, madame, it is not by remonstrances or by threats, but by entreaties, that I must endeavour to obtain from you a greater sacrifice than you have yet made for my son.”
“所以，女士，我必须努力以恳求的方式从你那里得到比你之前为我儿子做出的更大的牺牲。”

I trembled at this beginning.
我感到颤抖，对于这个开头。

Your father came over to me, took both my hands, and continued in an affectionate voice:
你父亲走到我的身边，握住了我的双手，以一种充满亲情的声音继续说道：

“My child, do not take what I have to say to you amiss; —
“孩子，不要对我要告诉你的事情生气； —

only remember that there are sometimes in life cruel necessities for the heart, but that they must be submitted to. —
只要记住，在生活中有时候心灵会面临残忍的需求，但我们必须屈服于它们。 —

You are good, your soul has generosity unknown to many women who perhaps despise you, and are less worthy than you. —
你是善良的，你的心灵有着许多其他妇女所不及的慷慨，她们可能会看不起你并且不如你值得。” —

But remember that there is not only the mistress, but the family; —
但要记住，不仅有情人，还有家庭；(But remember that there is not only the mistress, but the family;) —

that besides love there are duties; that to the age of passion succeeds the age when man, if he is to be respected, must plant himself solidly in a serious position. —
除了爱情，还有责任；当激情退去后，人必须站稳脚跟，担任严肃的职责，才能受人尊敬。(that besides love there are duties; that to the age of passion succeeds the age when man, if he is to be respected, must plant himself solidly in a serious position.) —

My son has no fortune, and yet he is ready to abandon to you the legacy of his mother. —
我的儿子没有财产，但他愿意将他母亲的遗产让给你。(My son has no fortune, and yet he is ready to abandon to you the legacy of his mother.) —

If he accepted from you the sacrifice which you are on the point of making, his honour and dignity would require him to give you, in exchange for it, this income, which would always put you out of danger of adversity. —
如果他接受了你即将做出的牺牲，他的荣誉和尊严会要求他向你提供与之等价的收入，这样你便不必担忧将来的逆境。(If he accepted from you the sacrifice which you are on the point of making, his honour and dignity would require him to give you, in exchange for it, this income, which would always put you out of danger of adversity.) —

But he can not accept this sacrifice, because the world, which does not know you, would give a wrong interpretation to this acceptance, and such an interpretation must not tarnish the name which we bear. —
但他不能接受这个牺牲，因为世人并不了解你，他们可能会对这种接受作出错误的解释，而我们的名誉决不能被任何错误的解释所玷污。(But he can not accept this sacrifice, because the world, which does not know you, would give a wrong interpretation to this acceptance, and such an interpretation must not tarnish the name which we bear.) —

No one would consider whether Armand loves you, whether you love him, whether this mutual love means happiness to him and redemption to you; —
没有人会考虑阿尔芒是否爱你，你是否爱他，这种相互之间的爱是否对他幸福，对你救赎；(No one would consider whether Armand loves you, whether you love him, whether this mutual love means happiness to him and redemption to you;). —

they would see only one thing, that Armand Duval allowed a kept woman (forgive me, my child, for what I am forced to say to you) to sell all she had for him. —
他们只会看到一件事，那就是阿尔芒·杜瓦尔允许一个被养着的女人（原谅我，我的孩子，之前我被迫对你说这些）为了他而卖掉所有财产。 —

Then the day of reproaches and regrets would arrive, be sure, for you or for others, and you would both bear a chain that you could not sever. —
然后，责备和懊悔的日子会到来，你或其他人都将背负着一个无法断开的束缚。 —

What would you do then? Your youth would be lost, my son’s future destroyed; —
那时候你会怎么办？你的青春将会消失，我儿子的未来将会被毁掉； —

and I, his father, should receive from only one of my children the recompense that I look for from both.
而我，作为他的父亲，只会从我的两个孩子中得到一个我期待的回报。

“You are young, beautiful, life will console you; —
“你年轻、美丽，生活会安慰你； —

you are noble, and the memory of a good deed will redeem you from many past deeds. —
你是高贵的，一次善行的记忆会从许多过去的行为中赎回你。 —

During the six months that he has known you Armand has forgotten me. —
在他认识你的六个月里，阿尔芒忘记了我。 —

I wrote to him four times, and he has never once replied. —
我给他写了四封信，他从未回复过一次。 —

I might have died and he not known it!
我可能已经死了，他甚至都不知道！”

“Whatever may be your resolution of living otherwise than as you have lived, Armand, who loves you, will never consent to the seclusion to which his modest fortune would condemn you, and to which your beauty does not entitle you. —
“无论你决定以与过去不同的方式生活，爱你的阿曼德永远不会同意将你禁闭起来，那是他有限的财富所不能允许的，而你的美丽也没有资格让你被束缚。 —

Who knows what he would do then! He has gambled, I know; —
谁知道他会做什么！我知道他曾经赌博过； —

without telling you of it, I know also, but, in a moment of madness, he might have lost part of what I have saved, during many years, for my daughter’s portion, for him, and for the repose of my old age. —
虽然没有告诉你，我也知道，但在一时疯狂之下，他可能已经失去了我多年来为我女儿的嫁妆，为他自己，以及我安度晚年而积蓄的一部分。 —

What might have happened may yet happen.
可能已经发生的事情仍然可能发生。

“Are you sure, besides, that the life which you are giving up for him will never again come to attract you? —
而且还有一点，你确定你舍弃的这种生活永远不会再吸引你吗？ —

Are you sure, you who have loved him, that you will never love another? —
你确定你这个曾经爱过他的人永远不会再爱上别人吗？ —

Would you not suffer on seeing the hindrances set by your love to your lover’s life, hindrances for which you would be powerless to console him, if, with age, thoughts of ambition should succeed to dreams of love? —
如果你的爱给你的爱人的生活带来了障碍，而你又无力安慰他，如果随着年龄增长，对野心的想法取代了对爱情的幻想，你会不会痛苦？ —

Think over all that, madame. You love Armand; —
请仔细考虑这一切，夫人。你爱阿曼德； —

prove it to him by the sole means which remains to you of yet proving it to him, by sacrificing your love to his future. —
通过你对他未来的牺牲来向他证明。 —

No misfortune has yet arrived, but one will arrive, and perhaps a greater one than those which I foresee. —
目前还没有发生不幸，但将来可能会发生，而且可能比我预料的更严重。 —

Armand might become jealous of a man who has loved you; he might provoke him, fight, be killed. —
阿尔芒可能会嫉妒一个曾经爱过你的人，可能会挑衅他，打斗，甚至被杀。 —

Think, then, what you would suffer in the presence of a father who should call on you to render an account for the life of his son!
想象一下，在一个父亲面前你要为他儿子的生命负责而遭受的痛苦吧！

“Finally, my dear child, let me tell you all, for I have not yet told you all, let me tell you what has brought me to Paris. I have a daughter, as I have told you, young, beautiful, pure as an angel. —
“最后，亲爱的孩子，让我把全部都告诉你，因为我还没有全部都告诉你，让我告诉你我为什么来到巴黎。我有一个女儿，就像我告诉你的那样，年轻、美丽，像个天使一样纯洁。 —

She loves, and she, too, has made this love the dream of her life. —
她爱着，她也把这份爱她的人变成了她生命中的梦想。 —

I wrote all that to Armand, but, absorbed in you, he made no reply. —
我把所有这些都写给了阿尔芒，但他却沉浸在你的世界里，没有回复。 —

Well, my daughter is about to marry. She is to marry the man whom she loves; —
好了，我的女儿即将结婚。她将和她爱的人结婚； —

she enters an honourable family, which requires that mine has to be no less honourable. —
她将进入一个尊贵的家庭，这个家庭要求我的家庭也要同样尊贵。 —

The family of the man who is to become my son-in-law has learned what manner of life Armand is leading in Paris, and has declared to me that the marriage must be broken off if Armand continues this life. —
我女婿家人得知了阿曼在巴黎的生活方式，并向我表示，如果阿曼继续这种生活，他们将终止这段婚姻。 —

The future of a child who has done nothing against you, and who has the right of looking forward to a happy future, is in your hands. —
一个未曾得罪你的孩子的未来，在你手中。 —

Have you the right, have you the strength, to shatter it? —
你有权利，你有力量去摧毁它吗？ —

In the name of your love and of your repentance, Marguerite, grant me the happiness of my child.”
玛格丽特，以你的爱和悔意之名，给我孩子的幸福吧。

I wept silently, my friend, at all these reflections which I had so often made, and which, in the mouth of your father, took a yet more serious reality. —
听到你父亲口中的这些反思，我默默地流泪，这些反思我曾多次思考过，而在你父亲的口中，显得更加严肃真实。 —

I said to myself all that your father dared not say to me, though it had come to his lips twenty times: —
我对自己说了你父亲不敢对我说却多次想说的话： —

that I was, after all, only a kept woman, and that whatever excuse I gave for our liaison, it would always look like calculation on my part; —
毕竟，我只是一个被养着的女人，无论我为我们的关系找出什么借口，它都会被看作是我自己的计算。 —

that my past life left me no right to dream of such a future, and that I was accepting responsibilities for which my habits and reputation were far from giving any guarantee. —
那个我过去的生活没有给我留下梦想未来的权利，而我却接受了并不保证的责任。 —

In short, I loved you, Armand.
简而言之，我爱你，亚尔曼。

The paternal way in which M. Duval had spoken to me; the pure memories that he awakened in me; —
杜瓦尔先生对我说话的父亲般的方式；他在我心中唤起的纯净回忆； —

the respect of this old man, which I would gain; yours, which I was sure of gaining later on: —
我将获得这位老人的尊重，我相信将来也会获得你的尊重； —

all that called up in my heart thoughts which raised me in my own eyes with a sort of holy pride, unknown till then. —
这一切在我心中唤起了一种从未有过的神圣自豪感。 —

When I thought that one day this old man, who was now imploring me for the future of his son, would bid his daughter mingle my name with her prayers, as the name of a mysterious friend, I seemed to become transformed, and I felt a pride in myself.
当我想到有一天这位现今为他的儿子的未来向我乞求的老人，会要求他的女儿在祈祷中融入我的名字，作为一个神秘的朋友的名字，我仿佛变了一个人，我为自己感到自豪。

The exaltation of the moment perhaps exaggerated the truth of these impressions, but that was what I felt, friend, and these new feelings silenced the memory of the happy days I had spent with you.
这一刻的激动或许夸大了这些感受的真实性，但这就是我所感受到的，朋友，而这些新的感觉让我失去了与你共度快乐时光的记忆。

“Tell me, sir,” I said to your father, wiping away my tears, “do you believe that I love your son?”
“告诉我，先生，”我对你父亲说完擦去眼泪，“你相信我爱着你的儿子吗？”

“Yes,” said M. Duval.
“是的，”杜瓦尔先生回答道。

“With a disinterested love?”
“以一种无私的爱？”

“Yes.”
“是的。”

“Do you believe that I had made this love the hope, the dream, the forgiveness of my life?”
“你相信我将这种爱变成了我生活中的希望、梦想和宽恕吗？”

“Implicitly.”
“隐含地相信。”

“Well, sir, embrace me once, as you would embrace your daughter, and I swear to you that that kiss, the only chaste kiss I have ever had, will make me strong against my love, and that within a week your son will be once more at your side, perhaps unhappy for a time, but cured forever.”
“好吧，先生，像亲吻女儿一样拥抱我一次，我发誓那个吻，我唯一纯洁的吻，将使我坚强面对我的爱，而你的儿子将在一周内再次回到你身边，也许暂时不幸福，但永远康复。”

“You are a noble child,” replied your father, kissing me on the forehead, “and you are making an attempt for which God will reward you; —
“你是个高贵的孩子，”你父亲回答道，亲吻了我的额头，“你正在做一个上帝会奖励你的尝试；但我非常担心你对我儿子没有任何影响。” —

but I greatly fear that you will have no influence upon my son.”
“哦，放心，先生；他会恨我。”

“Oh, be at rest, sir; he will hate me.”
我不得不在我们之间建立一道无法逾越的障碍，这样做对我和对你都是一样的。

I had to set up between us, as much for me as for you, an insurmountable barrier.
为了我和你，我不得不设立一个无法逾越的屏障。

I wrote to Prudence to say that I accepted the proposition of the Comte de N., and that she was to tell him that I would sup with her and him. —
我写信给普鲁登斯，告诉她我接受了N伯爵的提议，并告诉她我将和他一起与她共进晚餐。 —

I sealed the letter, and, without telling him what it contained, asked your father to have it forwarded to its address on reaching Paris.
我封好了信，没有告诉他里面写了什么，而是请你父亲在到达巴黎后将信转交给他的地址。

He inquired of me what it contained.
他问我信里写了什么。

“Your son’s welfare,” I answered.
“你儿子的福祉，”我回答道。

Your father embraced me once more. I felt two grateful tears on my forehead, like the baptism of my past faults, and at the moment when I consented to give myself up to another man I glowed with pride at the thought of what I was redeeming by this new fault.
你父亲再次拥抱了我。我感到额头上有两滴感激的泪水，就像我过去错误的洗礼一样。在我同意将自己交给另一个人的那一刻，我为我通过这个新错误所洗刷的过去感到骄傲。

It was quite natural, Armand. You told me that your father was the most honest man in the world.
这很自然，阿尔芒。你告诉我你父亲是世界上最诚实的人。

M. Duval returned to his carriage, and set out for Paris.
杜瓦尔先生回到他的马车上，朝着巴黎出发了。

I was only a woman, and when I saw you again I could not help weeping, but I did not give way.
我只是一个女人，当我再次见到你时，我情不自禁地哭了，但我没有崩溃。

Did I do right? That is what I ask myself to-day, as I lie ill in my bed, that I shall never leave, perhaps, until I am dead.
我做对了吗？这是我今天问自己的问题，因为我躺在床上病着，也许我永远都不能出去了，直到我死去。

You are witness of what I felt as the hour of our separation approached; —
当我们分离的时刻来临时，你是我所感受到的见证； —

your father was no longer there to support me, and there was a moment when I was on the point of confessing everything to you, so terrified was I at the idea that you were going to hate and despise me.
你父亲不再在我身边支持我，有那么一瞬间，我几乎要向你坦白一切，因为我太害怕你会憎恨和鄙视我了。

One thing which you will not believe, perhaps, Armand, is that I prayed God to give me strength; —
也许你不会相信，阿尔芒，我曾祈求上帝给予我力量； —

and what proves that he accepted my sacrifice is that he gave me the strength for which I prayed.
而证明他接受了我的牺牲的就是，他给了我我所祈求的力量。

At supper I still had need of aid, for I could not think of what I was going to do, so much did I fear that my courage would fail me. —
晚餐时我仍然需要帮助，因为我完全不知道接下来该怎么办，我太担心自己的勇气会消失。 —

Who would ever have said that I, Marguerite Gautier, would have suffered so at the mere thought of a new lover? —
谁能想到我，玛格丽特·戈蒂埃，竟然因为纯粹想着一个新情人而痛苦不堪？ —

I drank for forgetfulness, and when I woke next day I was beside the count.
我喝酒是为了忘记，当我第二天醒来时，我就在那个伯爵身边。

That is the whole truth, friend. Judge me and pardon me, as I have pardoned you for all the wrong that you have done me since that day.
这就是全部的真相，朋友。无论你如何判断和原谅我，就像我原谅你自那天以来对我所做的一切那样。