The grotesque character of everyday occurrences conceals from one the real misery of passions.

BARNAVE

每天发生的那些事十分荒诞,使您看不到热情造成的真正不幸。

巴纳夫

While he was replacing its ordinary furniture in the room that M. de La Mole had occupied, Julien found a piece of stout paper, folded twice across. He read at the foot of the first page:

于连把原来的家具放回德·拉莫尔先生用过的房间,发现了一张很厚的、折成四折的纸。他在第一页的下方读到:

To H. E., M. le Marquis de La Mole, Peer of France, Knight of the Royal Orders, etc., etc.It was a petition in the rude handwriting of a cook

呈法兰西贵族院议员、国王所颁诸勋章之获得者、等等,等等,德·拉莫尔侯爵大人先生。这是一份用女厨娘那种粗大字体写成的请求书。

Monsieur le Marquis, All my life I have held religious principles. I was in Lyons, exposed to the bombs, at the time of the siege, in '93, of execrable memory. I am a communicant, I go every Sunday to mass in my parish church. I have never failed in my Easter duty, not even in '93, of execrable memory. My cook, for before the revolution I kept servants, my cook observes Friday.

侯爵先生:我毕生恪守宗教原则,不堪回首的九三年,我在里昂,围困时期饱尝炸弹之苦。我领圣体;每个礼拜日都去教区的教堂望弥撒。即便在不 堪回首的九三年,我亦不曾忘记复活节的职责。我的厨娘,革命前我有过一些用人,我的厨娘礼拜五斋戒。

I enjoy in Verrieres a general and I venture to say merited respect. I walk beneath the dais in processions, beside the cure and the mayor. I carry, on solemn occasions, a big candle bought at my own cost. The certificates of all of which are in Paris at the Ministry of Finance. I ask Monsieur le Marquis for the Verrieres lottery office, which cannot fail to be vacant soon in one way or another, the present holder being seriously ill, and besides voting the wrong way at the elections; etc.

我在维里埃受到普遍的敬重,而且犹敢说受之无愧。我在宗教仪式队伍中走在华盖之下,挨着本堂神甫先生和市长先生。在重大场合,我手捧自费购买的大蜡烛。这一切皆有证明,保存在巴黎的财政部。我向侯爵先生请求维里埃的彩票局,该局无论如何将很快成为空缺,因为主持人病得很重,而且在选举中投错了票,等等。

DE CHOLIN

德·肖兰

On the margin of this petition was an endorsement signed de Moirod, which began with the words: 'I had the honour yesterday to mention the respectable person who makes this request,' and so forth.

在这份请求书边上的空白处,有德·穆瓦罗亲笔签署的意见,起首一行是:“我昨日有幸谈及提出此项请求的这位好人,等等。”

'And so even that imbecile Cholin shows me the way that I must follow,' Julien said to himself.

“这样,连肖兰这笨蛋都向我指出应该走的路,”于连心想。

A week after the visit of the King of —— to Verrieres, the chief thing to emerge from the innumerable falsehoods, foolish interpretations, absurd discussions, etc., etc., to which the King, the Bishop of Agde, the Marquis de La Mole, the ten thousand bottles of wine, the unseated Moirod (who, in the hope of a Cross, did not set foot outside his own door for a whole month after his fall) were in turn subjected, was the utter indelicacy of having jockeyed into the Guard of Honour, Julien Sorel, the son of a carpenter. You ought to have heard, on this topic, the wealthy calico printers, who, morning, noon and night, used to talk themselves hoarse in preaching equality. That proud woman, Madame de Renal, was the author of this abomination. Her reason? The flashing eyes and pink cheeks of that young abbe Sorel were reason enough and to spare.

国王路过维里埃,国王、阿格德主教、德·拉莫尔侯爵、一万瓶葡萄酒、穆瓦罗的可怜的堕马(他希望得到一枚勋章,堕马后一个月才出 门),相继成为无数谎言、愚蠢的解释、可笑的争论,等等,等等的目标,而一周之后,仍有一件事大家议论纷纷,那就是极其卑鄙地把于连·索莱尔,一个木匠的儿子,突然塞进仪仗队。关于这件事,应该听听那些富有的印花布制造商们说些什么,他们可是晚上早晨都在咖啡馆里喊破了嗓子鼓吹平等。这个高傲的女人,德·莱纳夫人,这件可恶的事就是她干的。理由?小索莱尔神甫那一双美丽的眼睛和如此娇嫩的脸蛋儿就足够了。

Shortly after their return to Vergy, Stanislas Xavier, the youngest of the children, took fever; at once Madame de Renal was seized by the most fearful remorse. For the first time she blamed herself for falling in love in a coherent fashion. She seemed to understand, as though by a miracle, the appalling sin into which she had let herself be drawn. Although deeply religious by nature, until this moment she had never thought of the magnitude of her crime in the eyes of God.

回到韦尔吉不久,孩子中最小的一个,斯坦尼斯拉—克萨维埃,发起烧来。德·莱纳夫人一下子陷入可怕的悔恨。她第一次持续地责备自己的爱情;仿佛出了奇迹,她似乎明白了她被拖进一个多么巨大的错误之中。尽管她有一种笃信宗教的性格,然而在此之前她还从未想过她所犯的罪孽在天主眼中是多么深重。

Long ago, at the convent of the Sacred Heart, she had loved God with a passionate love; she feared Him in the same way in this predicament. The struggles that rent her heart asunder were all the more terrible in that there was nothing reasonable in her fear. Julien discovered that any recourse to argument irritated instead of calming her; she saw in it the language of hell. However, as Julien himself was greatly attached to little Stanislas, he was more welcome to speak to her of the child's illness: presently it assumed a grave character. Then her incessant remorse deprived Madame de Renal even of the power to sleep; she never emerged from a grim silence: had she opened her mouth, it would have been to confess her crime to God and before men.

过去在圣心修道院时,她狂热地爱过天主;眼下,她又狂热地惧怕他。在她的恐惧中没有任何理性的东西,这就使撕裂着她的灵魂的斗争变得更加可怕。于连发现,跟她稍微讲点道理,非但不能使她平静,反而使她发怒;她从中看见的是地狱的语言。然而,于连自己也很喜欢小斯坦尼斯拉,他跟她谈谈他的病,就受到欢迎,因为病情很快变得严重。这时,持续不断的悔恨甚至使德·莱纳夫人失去了睡眠的能力;她整天铁着脸不说话,倘若她一开口,那肯定是向天主和世人坦白她的罪孽。

'I beg of you,' Julien said to her, as soon as they were alone, 'say nothing to anyone; let me be the sole confidant of your griefs. If you still love me, do not speak! your words cannot cure our Stanislas of his fever.'

“我求您,”他们俩单独在一起时,于连对她说,“别跟任何人说;把您的痛苦只讲给我一个人听吧。如果您还爱我,就别说,您的话不能让我们的斯坦尼斯拉退烧。”

But his attempts at consolation produced no effect; he did not know that Madame de Renal had taken it into her head that, to appease the anger of a jealous God, she must either hate Julien or see her son die. It was because she felt that she could not hate her lover that she was so unhappy.

然而他的安慰毫无效果;他不知道德·莱纳夫人脑子里想的是,要平息嫉妒的天主的愤怒,必须要么恨于连,要么眼看着儿子死掉。因为她觉得她不能恨她的情夫,所以她才这样地痛苦。

'Avoid my presence,' she said to Julien one day; 'in the name of God, leave this house: it is your presence here that is killing my son.

“离开我吧,”一天她对于连说,“看在天主的份上,离开这座房子吧:您在,我的儿子就会死。”

'God is punishing me,' she added in a whisper; 'He is just; I adore His equity; my crime is shocking, and I was living without remorse! It was the first sign of departure from God: I ought to be doubly punished.'

“天主惩罚我,”她又低声补充道,“他是公正的;我崇拜他的公平;我的罪孽是可怕的,我不曾受过良心的责备!那就是背弃上帝的第 一个迹象:我应该加倍地受到惩罚。”

Julien was deeply touched. He was unable to see in this attitude either hypocrisy or exaggeration. 'She believes that she is killing her son by loving me, and yet the unhappy woman loves me more than her son. That,how can I doubt it, is the remorse that is killing her; there is true nobility of feeling. But how can I have inspired such love, I, so poor, so ill-bred, so ignorant, often so rude in my manners?'

于连被深深地打动了,他从中既看不到虚伪,也看不到夸张。“她相信爱我就要了她儿子的命,然而这可怜的女人爱我胜过爱她的儿子。我不能再怀疑了,她会因悔恨而死。这就是高尚的感情啊。可是我这样穷,这样没有教养,这样无知,有时举止这样粗鲁,怎么会激起这样—种爱情呢?”

One night the child's condition was critical. About two o'clock in the morning, M. de Renal came to see him. The boy, burning with fever, was extremely flushed and did not recognise his father. Suddenly Madame de Renal threw herself at her husband's feet: Julien saw that she was going to reveal everything and to ruin herself for ever.

一天夜里,孩子病得不行了。快到凌晨两点钟的时候,德·莱纳先生来看他。孩子烧得厉害,满脸通红,认不出他的父亲了。突然,德·莱纳夫人扑倒在丈夫脚下:于连看出她就要把一切都说出来了,就要把自己永远地毁掉了。

Fortunately, this strange exhibition annoyed M. de Renal. 'Good night! Good night!' he said and prepared to leave the room.

幸亏这奇怪的举动使德·莱纳先生感到厌烦。“得了!得了!”他说着就走了。

'No, listen to me,' cried his wife on her knees before him, seeking to hold him back. 'Learn the whole truth. It is I that am killing my son. I gave him his life, and I am taking it from him. Heaven is punishing me; in the eyes of God, I am guilty of murder. I must destroy and humble myself; it may be that such a sacrifice will appease the Lord.'

“不,你听我说,”他的妻子跪在他面前喊道,竭力拉住他。“我告诉你全部事实真相。是我杀了我的儿于。我给了他生命,我又要了回 来。上天惩罚我,在天主的眼里,我犯了谋杀罪。我应该毁掉我自己,羞辱我自已;也许这牺牲会平息天主的怒火。”

If M. de Renal had been a man of imagination, he would have guessed everything.

如果德·莱纳先生是个有想像力的人,他就什么都知道了。

'Romantic stuff,' he exclaimed, thrusting away his wife who sought to embrace his knees. 'Romantic stuff, all that! Julien, tell them to fetch the doctor at daybreak.'

“胡思乱想。”他推开想要抱住他的双膝的妻子,大声说,“全是胡思乱想!于连,天一亮就派人去叫医生。

And he went back to bed. Madame de Renal sank on her knees, half unconscious, with a convulsive movement thrusting away Julien, who was coming to her assistance.

Julien stood watching her with amazement.

他回去睡觉了。德·莱纳夫人跪倒在地,快要昏过去了,于连想扶她,被她猛地推开。

于连呆住了。

'So this is adultery!' he said to himself … 'Can it be possible that those rascally priests are right after all? That they, who commit so many sins, have the privilege of knowing the true theory of sin? How very odd!'

“这就是通奸啊!”他心里说……“难道那些如此狡猾的教士们可能……是对的吗?他们犯了那么多罪倒有了特权通晓真正的犯罪理论? 多奇怪啊!……”

For twenty minutes since M. de Renal had left the room, Julien had seen the woman he loved, her head sunk on the child's little bed, motionless and almost unconscious. 'Here we have a woman of superior intelligence reduced to the last extremes of misery, because she has known me,' he said to himself.

在德·莱纳先生离开以后的二十分钟里,于连—直看着他心爱的女人头倚在孩子的小床上,一动不动,几乎不省人事。“看哪,一个聪明绝顶的女人,因为认识了我,就不幸到了极点。

The hours passed rapidly. 'What can I do for her? I must make up my mind. I have ceased to count here. What do I care for men, and their silly affectations? What can I do for her? … Go from her? But I shall be leaving her alone, torn by the most frightful grief. That automaton of a husband does her more harm than good. He will say something offensive to her, in his natural coarseness; she may go mad, throw herself from the window.

“时间一小时一小时过得很快。我能为她做什么呢?应该决定了。我个人已无关紧要。那些人和他们庸俗乏味的装腔作势,与我何干?我能为她做什么呢?……离开她?可这是让她一个人忍受最可怕的痛苦的折磨啊。这个木头丈夫不但帮不了她,还会害她。他会因为粗鲁而对她说出没心肝的话;她会发疯,会从窗口跳下去。

'If I leave her, if I cease to watch over her, she will tell him everything. And then, for all one knows, in spite of the fortune he is to inherit through her, he will make a scandal. She may tell everything, great God, to that—abbe Maslon, who makes the illness of a child of six an excuse for never stirring out of this house, and not without purpose. In her grief and her fear of God, she forgets all that she knows of the man; she sees only the priest.'

“如果我撇下她,如果我不守着她,她会向他坦白一切的。谁知道呢,也许他会不顾她带来的遗产,大闹一场。她可能,伟大的天主啊!把一切都告诉马斯隆神父这个伪君子,而他就会以一个六岁孩子的病为借口不再离开这座房子,而且不会没有企图。她在痛苦和对天主的恐惧中,会忘掉她对男人的了解;她只看见教士。”

'Leave me,' came suddenly from Madame de Renal as she opened her eyes.

“你走吧,”德·莱纳夫人突然对他说,睁开了眼晴。

'I would give my life a thousand times to know how I can be of most use to you,' replied Julien; 'never have I so loved you, my dear angel, or rather, from this instant only, I begin to adore you as you deserve to be adored. What is to become of me apart from you, and with the know ledge that you are wretched by my fault! But I must not speak of my own sufferings. I shall go, yes, my love. But, if I leave you, if I cease to watch over you, to be constantly interposing myself between you and your husband, you will tell him everything, you will be ruined. Think of the ignominy with which he will drive you from the house; all Verrieres, all Besancon will ring with the scandal. All the blame will be cast on you; you will never be able to lift up your head again.'

“为了知道什么对你最有用。我愿意死一千次,”于连回答道,“我从来没有这样爱过你,我亲爱的天使,或不如说,仅仅从此刻起,我 才开始像你理应得到的那样崇拜你。远离你,而且知道你因我而痛苦,我会变成什么呢?不过我的痛苦无所谓。好,我走,亲爱的。可是,如果我离开你,如果我不再守着你,不再置身于你和你的丈夫之间,你会向他说出一切,你会毁掉你自己。想想吧,他会卑鄙地将你赶出家门,整个维里埃、整个贝藏松都会议论这桩丑闻。一切不是都会落到你身上;你将永远不能从这耻辱中振作起来……”

'That is all that I ask,' she cried, rising to her feet. 'I shall suffer, all the better.'

“这正是我所求的,”她大声说,一边站起身来,“我将受苦,这更好。”

'But, by this appalling scandal, you will be harming him as well!'

“可是,由于这可恶的丑闻,他也将给他造成不幸!”

'But I humble myself, I throw myself down in the mud; and in that way perhaps I save my son. This humiliation, in the sight of all, is perhaps a public penance. So far as my frailty can judge, is it not the greatest sacrifice that I can make to God? Perhaps he will deign to accept my humiliation and to spare me my son! Show me a harder sacrifice and I will hasten to perform it.'

“可我是自轻自贱,我自己跳进泥坑里去;也许这样我会救了我的儿子。在众人的眼中,这种自轻自贱也许是一种公开的赎罪吧?就软弱 的我看来,这不是我能对天主做出的最大牺牲吗?也许他肯接受我的自轻自贱而把我的儿子留给我—!告诉我另外一种更加痛苦的牺牲,我立刻就去。”

'Let me punish myself. I too am guilty. Would you have me retire to La Trappe? The austerity of the life there may appease your God … Oh, heaven! Why can I not take upon myself Stanislas's illness?'

“让我也惩罚我吧。我也有罪。你愿意我进特拉伯苦修院吗?那种生活的严酷能够平息你那天主……啊!天哪!为什么我不能代替斯坦尼斯拉生病呢……”

'Ah! You love him,' said Madame de Renal, rising and flinging herself into his arms.

Immediately she thrust him from her with horror.

“啊!你爱他,你,”德·菜纳夫人说着站起来,投入他的怀抱。

就在同时,她又惊恐地把他推开。

'I believe you! I believe you!' she went on, having fallen once more on her knees; 'O my only friend, why are not you Stanislas's father? Then it would not be a horrible sin to love you more than your son.'

“我相信你,我相信你,”她重又跪下,继续说;“啊,我唯一的朋友!啊,为什么你不是斯坦尼斯抗的父亲?那样的话,爱你胜过爱你 的儿子就不是一桩可怕的罪过了。”

'Will you permit me to stay, and henceforward only to love you as a brother? It is the only reasonable expiation; it may appease the wrath of the Most High.'

“你愿意让我留下,从此我只如弟弟一样地爱你?这是唯一合乎情理的赎罪办法,它能够平息你那上苍的怒火。”

'And I,' she exclaimed, rising, and taking Julien's head in her hands, and holding it at arm's length before her eyes, 'and I, shall I love you like a brother? Is it in my power to love you like a brother?'

“那我呢,”她大声说着站了起来,双手捧住于连的头,远远地对着自己的眼睛,“那我呢,我像爱一个弟弟那样爱你?难道我能够像爱 一个弟弟那样爱你吗?”

Julien burst into tears. 'I will obey you,' he said as he fell at her feet. 'I will obey you, whatever you may bid me do; it is the one thing left for me. My brain is smitten with blindness; I can see no course to take. If I leave you, you tell your husband all; you ruin yourself, and him at the same time. After such a disgrace he will never be elected Deputy. If I stay, you regard me as the cause of your son's death, and you yourself die of grief. Would you like to test the effect of my going? If you like, I will punish myself for our sin by leaving you for a week. I shall pass the time in retreat wherever you choose. At the abbey of BrayleHaut, for instance; but swear to me that during my absence you will reveal nothing to your husband. Remember that I can never return if you speak.'

于连的眼泪刷地下来了。“我听你的,”他扑倒在她的脚下,“不管你命令我做什么,我都服从你;我能做的就只这些了。我的思想已经失明,我看不见任何办法 。如果我离开你,你会向你丈夫说出一切,你毁了,你的儿子也跟着毁了。出了这桩丑事,他永远不会被任命为议员。如果我留下,你会以为我是你儿子的死因,你也会痛苦而死。你愿意试一试我离开的效果吗?如果你愿意,我就离开你一周,为了我们的过失去惩罚我自己。你愿意我躲在哪儿,我就去哪儿度过这一周。例如博莱—勒欧修道院,不过你得向我发誓,我不在时你什么也别向你丈夫说。想想吧,如果你说了,我就再不能回来了。”

She promised; he departed, but was recalled after two days.

她答应了,他走了,可是过了两天就被叫了回来。

'It is impossible for me to keep my oath without you. I shall speak to my husband, if you are not constantly there to order me with your eyes to be silent. Each hour of this abominable life seems to me to last a day.'

“没有你,我不可能遵守我的誓言。如果你不在这里不断地用你的目光命令我沉默,我会说给我丈夫听的。这种可怕的生活每—个钟头在 我都像是整整一天。”

In the end, heaven took pity on this unhappy mother. Gradually Stanislas passed out of danger. But the ice was broken, her reason had learned the magnitude of her sin, she could no more recover her equilibrium. Remorse still remained, and took the form that it was bound to take in so sincere a heart. Her life was heaven and hell; hell when she did not see Julien, heaven when she was at his feet.

上天终于对这个不幸的母亲动了恻隐之心。斯坦尼斯拉渐渐脱离了危险。然而坚冰已被打破,她的理智已经认识到她的罪孽的广度;她再不能找到平衡了。悔恨逡巡不去;对一颗如此真诚的心来说情况原本就是如此。她的生活是天堂也是地狱:当她看不见于连时是地狱,当她依偎在他脚旁时是天堂。

'I am no longer under any illusion,' she told him, even at the moments when she ventured to give absolute rein to her love: 'I am damned, irremediably damned. You are young, you have yielded to my seduction, heaven may pardon you; but as for me, I am damned. I know it by an infallible sign. I am afraid: who would not be afraid at the sight of hell? But at heart, I am not in the least repentant. I would commit my sin again, were it to be committed. Let heaven only refrain from punishing me in this world and in my children, and I shall have more than I deserve. But you, at least, my Julien,' she cried at other moments, 'are you happy? Do you feel that I love you enough?'

“我不再存任何幻想,”就是在她敢于全身心地沉湎于爱情时,她也这样对他说,“我要下地狱了,无可挽回地下地狱了。你还年轻,你是屈服于我的诱惑。上天能够绕恕你;而我,我要下地狱了。我从一个确定无疑的迹象中看出来了。我害怕:谁看见地狱能不害怕?可说到底,我一点儿也不后悔。如果这过失需要重犯的话,我会重犯的。只求上天不在人世间和我的孩子们身上惩罚我。而你,至少,我的于连,”有时她又囔道,“你幸福吗?你觉得我爱你爱得够吗?”

Julien's distrust and suffering pride, which needed above all a love that made sacrifices, could not stand out against the sight of so great, so indubitable a sacrifice, and one that was made afresh every moment. He adored Madame de Renal. 'She may well be noble, and I the son of a working man; she loves me… I am not to her a footman employed in the part of lover.' Once rid of this fear, Julien fell into all the follies of love, into its mortal uncertainties.

于连深为狐疑和骄傲所苦,特别需要一种做出牺牲的爱情,如今面对一种如此巨大、如此不容置疑、而且每时每刻都在做出的牺牲,这狐疑和骄傲也就烟消云散了。他崇拜德·莱纳夫人。“尽管她是贵族,我是工人的儿子,可是她爱我……我在她身边不是一个行情夫之职的仆人。”这种担心消除之后,于连就陷入爱情的种种疯狂之中,也陷入爱情的难以忍受的变化无端之中。

'At least.' she cried when she saw that he doubted her love, 'let me make you happy during the few days we still have to spend together! Let us make haste; tomorrow perhaps I shall be no longer yours. If heaven strikes me through my children, in vain shall I seek to live only for love of you, not to see that it is my crime that is killing them. I shall not be able to survive that blow. Even if I would, I could not; I should go mad.'

“至少,”她见于连对她的爱情还有怀疑,就囔道,“在我们一起过的不多的日子里,我要让你非常幸福!让我们抓紧时间吧,也许我明天就不再是你的了。如果上天在我的孩子们的身上惩罚我,即使我想只为爱你而活着并且不认为是我的罪孽杀了他们,那我也做不到。我不能苟活于这次打击之后。就是我愿意,我也不能;我会发疯的。

'Ah! If I could take your sin upon my conscience, as you so generously wished that you might take Stanislas's fever!'

“啊!你曾那么慷慨地提出要代替斯坦尼斯拉发高烧,如果我能把你的罪孽揽到我一个人身上,那该多好!”

This great moral crisis changed the nature of the sentiment that united Julien to his mistress. His love was no longer merely admiration of her beauty, pride in the possession of her.

这个巨大的精神危机改变了把于连和他的情妇结合在一起的那种感情的性质。他的爱情,从此不再仅仅是对美貌的倾倒,也不再仅仅是因 占有而感到的骄傲了。

Their joy was thenceforward of a far higher nature, the flame that devoured them was more intense. They underwent transports of utter madness. Their happiness would have seemed great in the eyes of other people. But they never recaptured the delicious serenity, the unclouded happiness, the spontaneous joy of the first days of their love, when Madame de Renal's one fear was that of not being loved enough by Julien.

他们的幸福从此具有一种更为崇高的性质,吞噬他们的烈火也燃烧得更猛烈。他们有过一些充满了疯狂的昂奋时刻,在世人的眼中,他们似乎更加幸福了。然而,当深恐于连爱她爱得不够成了德·莱纳夫人唯一的心病时,他们就再也找不到初尝爱情时的那种美妙有味的平静和没有阴云的喜悦了。他们的幸福有时具有一种罪恶的面貌。

Their happiness assumed at times the aspect of crime. In what were their happiest, and apparently their calmest moments:

在最幸福、表面上最平静的时刻,德·莱纳夫人会痉挛地—下子抓住于连的手,突然嚷道:

'Oh! Great God! I see hell before me,' Madame de Renal would suddenly exclaim, gripping Julien's hand with a convulsive movement. 'What fearful torments! I have well deserved them.' She clutched him, clinging to him like the ivy to the wall.

“啊!伟大的天主!我看见地狱了。多可怕的酷刑啊!我罪有应得。”她紧紧地抱住他,仿佛常春藤贴在墙上。

Julien tried in vain to calm this agitated soul. She took his hand, which she covered with kisses. Then, relapsing into a sombre meditation; 'Hell,' she said, 'hell would be a blessing to me; I should still have some days in this world to spend with him, but hell here on earth, the death of my children … Yet, at that price, perhaps my crime would be forgiven me…Oh! Great God! Grant me not my pardon at that price. These poor children have done nothing to offend thee; 'tis I, I, the guilt is mine alone! I love a man who is not my husband.'

于连试图让这颗骚动不安的心灵乎静下来,然而没有用。她抓住他的手,在上面印满了吻。然后,她又重新跌进阴暗的梦幻,“地狱,”她说,“地狱对我是一个恩典;我在这世上也许还有几天和他一起度过,可是地狱就在这世上,我的孩子们的死……不过,付出这样的代价,也许我的罪行会被赦免……啊!伟大的天主!别用这样的代价来饶恕我。这些可怜的孩子一点儿也没有冒犯您呀;是我,只我一个人有罪:我爱上一个人,可他不是我的丈夫。”

Julien next saw Madame de Renal reach a state that was outwardly tranquil. She sought to take the burden upon herself, she wished not to poison the existence of him whom she loved.

随后,于连看见德·莱纳夫人进入一种表面上平静的时刻。她竭力控制自己,她想不破坏她所爱的人的生活。

In the midst of these alternations of love, remorse and pleasure, the days passed for them with lightning rapidity. Julien lost the habit of reflection.

他们的日子就这样在爱情、悔恨、欢乐的交替中闪电般迅速地过去了。于连失去了思考的习惯。

Miss Elisa went to conduct a little lawsuit which she had at Verrieres. She found M. Valenod greatly annoyed with Julien. She hated the tutor and often spoke about him to M. Valenod.

爱丽莎小姐去维里埃打一场小小的官司。她发现瓦勒诺先生对于连非常生气。她恨这位家庭教师,常常在瓦勒先生面前说他。

'You would ruin me, Sir, if I told you the truth!' she said to him one day. 'Employers all hang together in important things. They never forgive us poor servants for certain revelations … '

“您会毁了我的,先生,如果我说出真相:……”,有一天她对瓦勒诺先生说,“主人们在大事上总是一致的……有些隐情,可怜的仆人 们要是说出去,是绝不会得到宽恕的……”

After these conventional phrases, which the impatient curiosity of M. Valenod found a way of cutting short, he learned the most mortifying things in the world for his own self-esteem.

瓦勒诺先生的好奇心不耐烦了,他想出缩短这一套陈词滥调的办法,知道了他的虚荣心最不能忍受的事。

This woman, the most distinguished in the place, whom for six years he had surrounded with every attention, and, unluckily, before the eyes of all the world; this proudest of women, whose disdain had so often made him blush, had taken as her lover a little journeyman dressed up as a tutor. And that nothing might be wanting to the discomfiture of the governor of the poorhouse, Madame de Renal adored this lover.

这个女人,当地最高贵的女人,六年间他对她的关怀无微不至,而且倒霉的是有目共睹,尽人皆知;这个如此高傲的女人,她的蔑视那么 多次让他脸红,竞於最近找了个打扮成家庭教师的小工人当情夫。最让乞丐收容所所长先生恼火的是,德·莱纳夫人居然还崇拜这个情夫。

'And,' the maid added with a sigh, 'M. Julien went to no pains to make this conquest, he has never departed from his habitual coldness with Madame.'

“还有,”这位女仆叹了口气,补充说,“于连先生不费吹灰之力就征服了她,就是对夫人他也保持着他那一贯的冷冰冰的态度。”

It was only in the country that Elisa had become certain of her facts, but she thought that this intrigue dated from far earlier.

爱丽莎只是到了乡间以后才确信不疑,然而她相信他们的私通很早就开始了。

'That, no doubt, is why,' she continued bitterly, 'he refused at the time to marry me. And I, like a fool, going to consult Madame de Renal, begging her to speak to the tutor!'

“毫无疑问就是为了这,”她愤愤地补充说,“他那时拒绝娶我。而我真傻,还去问德·莱纳夫人,求她去跟那家庭教师说。”

That same evening M. de Renal received from the town, with his newspaper, a long anonymous letter which informed him in the fullest detail of all that was going on under his roof. Julien saw him turn pale as he read this letter, which was written on blue paper, and cast angry glances at himself. For the rest of the evening the Mayor never recovered his peace of mind; it was in vain that Julien tried to flatter him by asking him to explain obscure points in the pedigrees of the best families of Burgundy.

当天晚上,德·菜纳先生从城里接到报纸的同时,还接到了一封很长的匿名信,把他家里发生的事详详细细地告诉了他。于连看见他读这 封写在发蓝的纸上的信时脸色发白,还朝他恶狠狠地看了几眼。整个晚上市长都烦躁不安,于连讨好他,请他对勃艮第最好的家族的谱系作些解释,但是徒劳。