双语·面纱 第三十九章

39

A few days later Waddington, sitting with Kitty, a long glass of whisky and soda in his hand, began to speak to her of the convent.

“The Mother Superior is a very remarkable woman,” he said.“The Sisters tell me that she belongs to one of the greatest families in France, but they won't tell me which; the Mother Superior, they say, doesn't wish it to be talked of.”

“Why don't you ask her if it interests you?” smiled Kitty.

“If you knew her you'd know it was impossible to ask her an indiscreet question.”

“She must certainly be very remarkable if she can impress you with awe.”

“I am the bearer of a message from her to you. She has asked me to say that, though of course you may not wish to adventure into the very centre of the epidemic, if you do not mind that it will give her great pleasure to show you the convent.”

“It's very kind of her. I shouldn't have thought she was aware of my existence.”

“I've spoken about you; I go there two or three times a week just now to see if there's anything I can do; and I dare say your husband has told them about you. You must be prepared to find that they have an unbounded admiration for him.”

“Are you a Catholic?”

His malicious eyes twinkled and his funny little face was puckered with laughter.

“Why are you grinning at me?” asked Kitty.

“Can any good come out of Galilee? No, I'm not a Catholic. I describe myself as a member of the Church of England, which I suppose is an inoffensive way of saying that you don't believe in anything very much… When the Mother Superior came here ten years ago she brought seven nuns with her and of those all but three are dead. You see, at the best of times, Mei-tan-fu is not a health resort. They live in the very middle of the city, in the poorest district, they work very hard and they never have a holiday.”

“But there are only three and the Mother Superior now?”

“Oh, no, more have taken their places. There are six of them now. When one of them died of cholera at the beginning of the epidemic two others came up from Canton.”

Kitty shivered a little.

“Are you cold?”

“No, it was only someone walking over my grave.”

“When they leave France they leave it for ever. They're not like the Protestant missionaries who have a year's leave every now and then. I always think that must be the hardest thing of all. We English have no very strong attachment to the soil, we can make ourselves at home in any part of the world, but the French, I think, have an attachment to their country which is almost a physical bond. They're never really at ease when they're out of it. It always seems to me very moving that these women should make just that sacrifice. I suppose if I were a Catholic it would seem very natural to me.”

Kitty looked at him coolly. She could not quite understand the emotion with which the little man spoke and she asked herself whether it was a pose. He had drunk a good deal of whisky and perhaps he was not quite sober.

“Come and see for yourself,” he said, with his bantering smile, quickly reading her thought. “It's not nearly so risky as eating a tomato.”

“If you're not frightened there's no reason why I should be.”

“I think it'll amuse you. It's like a little bit of France.”

第三十九章

几天以后，威廷顿和凯蒂坐在一起，手里拿着一个长长的高脚杯，杯里盛满了威士忌加苏打水，开始向她谈论起女修道院的一些情况。

“修道院院长是个了不起的女人。”他说道，“修女们告诉我，她出身于法国的一个名门望族，但她们不愿意透露是哪一个家族，她们说，院长不希望谈论她的出身。”

“假如这事令你感兴趣，你为什么不亲自问问她呢？”凯蒂笑着问道。

“如果你认识她，你就会知道问她一个轻率的问题，是不可能得到回答的。”

“她能给你留下令人敬畏的印象，必定杰出非凡。”

“她让我给你捎个口信，说你可能不希望冒险进入疫区的中心，她当然能理解。但是如果你不介意的话，她会十分荣幸地领你参观一下修道院。”

“她太好了，我应该早想到她知道有我这么一个人。”

“我向她谈起过你。我一周能去两三次，去看看是否有什么我能做的事。另外，我敢说你丈夫也向她们说起过你，当你发现她们对你丈夫有着毫不掩饰的崇拜时，你可得有心理准备呀。”

“你是天主教徒吗？”

他狡黠的眼睛眨了眨，滑稽的小脸因为大笑而使五官挤在一起。

“你为什么冲着我傻笑？”凯蒂问道。

“从天主堂里出来会得到什么好处吗？不，我不是个天主教徒。我把自己称为新教教徒，我想这种自称可以是一种不会冒犯上帝的方式，婉转地说你不信任何东西……当修道院院长十年前来到这儿时，她还带着七个修女，现在只有三个了，其余的都死了。你瞧，即使在没有瘟疫的时候，湄潭府也不是什么健康的胜地。她们住在城镇的中心，在最贫困的地区，她们工作非常辛苦，从来没有假期。”

“现在只有修道院院长和三个修女了？”

“哦，不，有些人填补了她们的位置，现在她们有六个人了。当她们中的一个修女在瘟疫爆发之初就死于霍乱后，另外两个修女从广州过来帮忙了。”

凯蒂浑身颤抖了一下。

“你冷吗？”

“不冷，也就是打了个寒战[1]。”

“当她们离开法国后，就永远地离开了祖国。她们不像新教的传教士，时不时地可以有一年的假期。我总认为这是最难的。我们英国人对于土地没有那么强烈的依附感，我们能够在世界上的每个地区安家落户。但是法国人，我认为他们对自己的国家有着很强的依附感，甚至可以说是血肉相连。一旦离开自己的国家，他们就绝对没有真正地放松过。在我看来，这些女人做出这样的牺牲真是很感人，我想如果我是个天主教徒的话，这样的行为才会是十分自然的。”

凯蒂不动声色地看着他，她还不能十分理解这个小个儿男人说这话时的感情，她怀疑他是不是在故作姿态。他喝了那么多的威士忌，也许不是很清醒了。

“来吧，你亲眼看看。”他说道，带着嘲弄的微笑，很快就读出了她的心思，“几乎不会冒什么风险的。”

“如果你不害怕，我也没有理由害怕。”

“我认为它会让你觉得好玩的，那里就像一个微型的法国。”

* * *

[1]这句话的直译是“只是觉得有人走过了我的坟墓”。这是西方人迷信的说法，当你毫无来由地打寒战时，是因为“有人走过你的坟墓”。