双语·《刀锋》 第一章 五

CHAPTER ONE 5
第一章 五

I was having a wash and a brush-up before starting out to go to the luncheon Elliott had invited me to, when they rang up from the desk to say that he was below. I was a little surprised, but as soon as I was ready went down.
我在洗脸、梳头，准备去赴艾略特约的饭局。就在这时，旅馆的前台打来电话，说他已到了楼下。我有点诧异，可是一收拾好，就下楼去了。

“I thought it would be safer if I came and fetched you，”he said as we shook hands.“I don't know how well you know Chicago.”
“我觉得还是我来接你更为稳妥些。”在我们握手时，他说道，“我不知道你对芝加哥熟不熟。”

He had the feeling I have noticed in some Americans who have lived many years abroad that America is a difficult and even dangerous place in which the European cannot safely be left to find his way about by himself.
我发现一些旅居海外多年的美国人都有他的这种顾虑，觉得美国是个很难走的国度，甚至可以说充满了危险，让一个欧洲人自己寻路是不安全的。

“It's early yet. We might walk part of the way，”he suggested.
“时间还早，咱们可以走上一段路。”他提议说。

There was a slight nip in the air, but not a cloud in the sky, and it was pleasant to stretch one's legs.
外面微有寒意，不过，万里无云，活动活动腿脚倒是不错的。

“I thought I'd better tell you about my sister before you meet her，”said Elliott as we walked along.“She's stayed with me once or twice in Paris, but I don't think you were there at the time. It's not a big party, you know.Only my sister and her daughter Isabel and Gregory Brabazon.”
“我想还是在你会见家姐之前，先把她的情况介绍一下为好。”走在路上，艾略特说道，“她去巴黎我那儿小住过一两次。不过，你可能那时没到我那儿去过。今天人并不多，就是家姐和她的女儿伊莎贝尔以及格雷戈里·布拉巴宗。”

“The decorator?”I asked.
“就是那个室内装潢设计师吗？”我问。

“Yes. My sister's house is awful, and Isabel and I want her to have it done over.I happened to hear that Gregory was in Chicago and so I got her to ask him to lunch today.He's not quite a gentleman, of course, but he has taste.He did Raney Castle for Mary Olifant and St.Clement Talbot for the St.Erths.The duchess was delighted with him.You'll see Louisa's house for yourself.How she can have lived in it all these years I shall never understand.For the matter of that, how she can live in Chicago I shall never understand either.”
“是的，家姐的房子糟得一塌糊涂，伊莎贝尔和我都劝她重新装修一下。碰巧听说布拉巴宗在芝加哥，所以我就叫家姐请他今天来吃午饭。他虽说算不上一个地道的上等人，但品味是有的。玛丽·奥利芬特的拉尼城堡以及圣厄茨家的圣克莱门特·大宝庄园都是他给装饰的。他很讨公爵夫人的欢心。你去看看路易莎家的房子就知道了。她怎么能在那儿一住就住这么多年，这叫我永远也理解不透。说到这里，我还无法理解的是，她怎么能在芝加哥住下去。”

It appeared that Mrs. Bradley was a widow with three children, two sons and a daughter；but the sons were much older and married.One was in a government post in the Philippines, and the other, in the diplomatic service as his father had been, was at Buenos Aires.Mrs.Bradley's husband had occupied posts in various parts of the world, and after being first secretary in Rome for some years was made minister to one of the republics on the west coast of South America and had there died.
他的姐姐布雷德利夫人是个寡妇，有三个孩子，二子一女，儿子们早已长大成家，一个在菲律宾政府里做事，另一个继承父业供职于外交界，现在布宜诺斯艾利斯。布雷德利夫人的丈夫曾经出使过若干国家，在罗马做了几年一等秘书，后来又被派到南美洲西岸的一个小共和国做公使，最终在那里死在任上。

“I wanted Louisa to sell the house in Chicago when he passed over，”Elliott went on，“but she had a sentiment about it. It had been in the Bradley family for quite a long while.The Bradleys are one of the oldest families in Illinois.They came from Virginia in 1839 and took up land about sixty miles from what is now Chicago.They still own it.”Elliott hesitated a little and looked at me to see how I would take it.“The Bradley who settled here was what I suppose you might call a farmer.I'm not sure whether you know, but about the middle of last century, when the Middle West began to be opened up, quite a number of Virginians, younger sons of good family, you know, were tempted by the lure of the unknown to leave the flesh-pots of their native state.My brother-in-law's father, Chester Bradley, saw that Chicago had a future and entered a law office here.At all events he made enough money to leave his son very adequately provided for.”
“姐夫去世之后，我想让路易莎把芝加哥的房子卖掉，”艾略特继续滔滔不绝地说着，“可她对那房子有感情。那家人在那儿住了有些年头了。布雷德利家族在伊利诺伊州算得上是最古老的人家。他们一八三九年从弗吉尼亚原籍迁来这里，在离芝加哥大约有六十英里的地方置下田产，目前还保留着。”艾略特说到这里略作停顿，用眼睛瞧瞧我，看我有什么反应。“我想你也许会说他家早先是务农的。我不晓得你可知道，在上世纪中叶的时候，中西部开始搞开发，不少弗吉尼亚人——上等人家的子弟，受到未知世界的诱惑，抛弃了故乡衣食无忧的生活。我姐夫的父亲切斯特·布雷德利看出芝加哥有发展的前景，来这里进了一家律师事务所，反正他赚的钱也够儿辈丰衣足食的了。”

Elliott's manner, rather than his words, suggested that perhaps it was not quite the thing for the late Chester Bradley to have left the stately mansion and the broad acres he had inherited to enter an office, but the fact that he had amassed a fortune at least partly compensated for it. Elliott was none too pleased when on a later occasion Mrs.Bradley showed me some snapshots of what he called their“place”in the country, and I saw a modest frame house with a pretty little garden, but with a barn and a cowhouse and hog pens within a stone's throw, surrounded by a desolate waste offlat fields.I couldn't help thinking that Mr.Chester Bradley knew what he was about when he abandoned this to make his way in the city.
艾略特的话虽如此说，从他的神情却可以看出，那位已经去世的切斯特·布雷德利离开他祖传的华屋肥田，进了一家律师事务所，未免有点不划算，不过，幸好积攒了一笔财富，起码也算是一种补偿吧。后来有一回布雷德利夫人拿几张乡下所谓“祖屋”的照片给我看，艾略特显得有些不太高兴；照片上面我见到的是一座很不起眼的农家屋，有美丽的小花园，可是谷仓、牛棚和猪圈都隔开只有一箭之地，四周是一片荒芜的平畴。我不由想道，切斯特·布雷德利先生丢下老宅到城市里求发展，并不是没有成算的。

Presently we hailed a taxi. It put us down before a brownstone house.Narrow and rather high, and you ascended to the front door by a flight of steep steps.It was in a row of houses, in a street that led off Lake Shore Drive, and its appearance, even on that bright autumn day, was so drab that you wondered how anyone could feel any sentiment about it.The door was opened by a tall and stout Negro butler with white hair, and we were ushered into the drawing-room.Mrs.Bradley got up from her chair as we came in and Elliott presented me to her.She must have been a handsome woman when young, for her features, though on the large side, were good, and she had fine eyes.But her sallowish face, almost agressively destitute of make-up, had sagged, and it was plain that she had lost the battle with the corpulence of middle age.I surmised that she was unwilling to accept defeat, for when she sat down she sat very erect in a straight-backed chair which the cruel armour of her corsets doubtless made more comfortable than an upholstered one.She wore a blue gown, heavily braided, and her high collar was stiff with whalebone.She had a fine head of white hair tightly marcelled and intricately dressed.Her other guest had not arrived and while waiting for him we talked of one thing and another.
走了一会儿，我们叫住了一辆出租车，在一幢棕色的石头房子前下了车。房子窄而高，要攀上一串陡峭的石阶才到大门口。它处于一排房屋之间，坐落在湖滨大道旁边的一条街上，房屋外表就是在那天明媚的秋光里也还是阴沉沉的，真不明白一个人对这样的房子会有什么感情。开门的是个一头白发的黑人管家，又高又壮，他把我们引入了客厅。我们走进时，布雷德利夫人从椅子上站起来，艾略特为我做介绍。她年轻时一定是个美丽的女子，五官总体端正，一双眼睛生得煞是漂亮。可是，现在的她脸色灰黄，几乎未施任何粉黛，肌肉松弛，显然在跟中年发胖的战斗中已一败涂地。我猜她还不肯服输，因为她坐下时，腰杆在硬背椅子上挺得笔直；无疑，穿着那受罪的铠甲一般的紧身衣，这样坐在硬背椅子上要比坐在软垫椅子上舒服一些。她穿一件蓝色长衫，上面缀满了花边饰物，高领子用鲸鱼骨撑得硬硬的，一头白发烫成波浪纹，发式做得极其复杂，看上去挺有风度。另一位客人还未到，为了等他，我们就东一搭西一搭闲聊起来。

“Elliott tells me that you came over by the southern route，”said Mrs. Bradley.“Did you stop in Rome?”
“艾略特告诉我，你是走南边那条路过来的，”布雷德利夫人说，“你在罗马歇脚没有？”

“Yes, I spent a week there.”
“歇了，我在那儿住了一个星期。”

“And how is dear Queen Margherita?”
“亲爱的玛格丽达王后还好吗？”

Somewhat surprised by her question, I said I didn't know.
我被她这一问给问蒙了，只好回答说我不知道。

“Oh, didn't you go and see her?Such a very nice woman. She was so kind to us when we were in Rome.Mr.Bradley was first secretary.Why didn't you go and see her?You're not like Elliott, so black that you can't go to the Quirinal?”
“哦，你没有去看看她？她真是一个大好人。我们在罗马的时候，布雷德利先生曾任使馆的一等秘书，她待我们好极了。你怎么就不去看望看望她呢？你跟艾略特又不一样，不至于懒得连奎里纳尔皇宫都不去一趟吧？”

“Not at all，”I smiled.“The fact is I don't know her.”
“完全不是那回事。”我笑了笑说，“事实上，我并不认识她。”

“Don't you?”said Mrs. Bradley as though she could hardly believe her ears.“Why not?”
“不认识？”布雷德利夫人说，那表情好像是她简直不敢相信自己的耳朵，“怎么能不认识呢？”

“To tell you the truth authors don't hobnob with kings and queens as a general rule.”
“实不相瞒，一般来说，作家跟国王和王后是没有过密交往的。”

“But she's such a sweet woman，”Mrs. Bradley expostulated, as though it were very hoity-toity of me not to know that royal personage.“I'm sure you'd like her.”
“不过，玛格丽达王后是个和蔼可亲的人呀。”布雷德利夫人好言劝我，好像不认识这位王后完全是我摆架子，不屑似的，“我敢肯定你一定会喜欢她的。”

At this moment the door was opened and the butler ushered in Gregory Brabazon.
这时候门开了，管家把格雷戈里·布拉巴宗领了进来。

Gregory Brabazon, notwithstanding his name, was not a romantic creature. He was a short, very fat man, as bald as an egg except for a ring of black curly hair round his ears and at the back of his neck, with a red, naked face that looked as though it were on the point of breaking out into a violent sweat, quick grey eyes, sensual lips, and a heavy jowl.He was an Englishman and I had sometimes met him at bohemian parties in London.He was very jovial, very hearty, and laughed a great deal, but you didn't have to be a great judge of character to know that his noisy friendliness was merely cover for a very astute man of business.He had been for some years the most successful decorator in London.He had a great booming voice and little fat hands that were wonderfully expressive.With telling gestures, with a spate of excited words he could thrill the imagination of a doubting client so that it was almost impossible to withhold the order he seemed to make it a favour to accept.
格雷戈里·布拉巴宗空有一个好名姓，并不是个风流倜傥的人。他五短身材，大腹便便，除掉耳朵根和后颈有一圈黑鬈发外，头秃得就像只鸡蛋，一张脸红得似猴屁股，好像时刻都会流淌下一大堆臭汗一样，两个灰色的眼珠滴溜溜乱转，嘴唇肥厚，下巴特长。他是英国人。在伦敦时，放荡不羁的文人聚会上，有时会遇见他。他是个乐天派，总是很开心，动不动就哈哈大笑。不过，即便你不善于观察人的本质，也会发现他那种嘻嘻哈哈亲密的样子只不过是一种外衣，下面遮盖的是精明的生意经。这些年来，他一直都是伦敦城里最成功的室内装潢设计师。他那洪亮的声音和又小又胖的手都极富表现力，能产生奇异的功效。他只要摆动摆动小手，再奉上一大串兴奋的字眼，就会叫一个犹豫不决的客户激动起来，极大刺激他的想象力，使得他简直没法拒绝那似乎是一份施舍的订单。

The butler came in again with a tray of cocktails.
管家又走了进来，端来了一托盘的鸡尾酒。

“We won't wait for Isabel，”said Mrs. Bradley as she took one.
“咱们就不等伊莎贝尔了。”布雷德利夫人拿起一杯酒说。

“Where is she?”asked Elliott.
“她到哪儿去了？”艾略特问。

“She went to play golf with Larry. She said she might be late.”
“跟拉里打高尔夫去了，说也许要晚一点回来。”

Elliott turned to me.“Larry is Laurence Darrell. Isabel is supposed to be engaged to him.”
艾略特转向我说：“拉里就是劳伦斯·达雷尔。伊莎贝尔可能已跟他订婚了。”

“I didn't know you drank cocktails, Elliott，'I said.
“艾略特，我不知道你喝鸡尾酒。”我说道。

“I don't，”he answered grimly, as he sipped the one he had taken，“but in this barbarous land of prohibition what can one do?”He sighed.“They're beginning to serve them in some houses in Paris. Evil communications corrupt goodmanners.”
“我原本是不喝的。”他呷了一口杯中的酒说，“可在这么个禁酒的野蛮国度，你又能怎么样呢？”说着，他叹了口气，“巴黎的一些有身份的人家也开始喝这种玩意儿了。坏的世道把好的传统都给毁掉了。”

“Stuff and nonsense, Elliott，”said Mrs. Bradley.
“纯粹是胡言乱语，艾略特。”布雷德利夫人说。

She said it good-naturedly enough, but with a decision that suggested to me that she was a woman of character, and I suspected from the look she gave him, amused but shrewd, that she had no illusions about him. I wondered what she would make of Gregory Brabazon.I had caught the professional look he gave the room as he came in and the involuntary lifting of his bushy eyebrows.It was indeed an amazing room.The paper on the walls, the cretonne of the curtains and on the upholstered furniture were of the same pattern；on the walls were oil paintings in massive gold frames that the Bradleys had evidently bought when they were in Rome.Virgins of the school of Raphael, Virgins of the school of Guido Reni, landscapes of the school of Zuccarelli, ruins of the school of Pannini.There were trophies of their sojourn in Peking, blackwood tables too profusely carved, huge cloisonné vases, and there were the purchases they had made in Chile or Peru, obese figures in hard stone and earthenware vases.There was a Chippendale writing-table and a marquetry vitrine.The lamp-shades were of white silk on which some ill-advised artist had painted shepherds and shepherdesses in Watteau costumes.It was hideous and yet, I don’t know why, agreeable.It had a homely, lived-in air, and you felt that that incredible jumble had a significance.All those incongruous objects belonged together because they were part of Mrs.Bradley’s life.
她的口气相当温和，然而坚决，让我听出来她是个有个性的人。她看艾略特时，神情怡然自得，我怀疑她没有将弟弟当作一个了不起的人物。我暗自寻思，她把格雷戈里·布拉巴宗归于哪一类人呢？布拉巴宗一进门先用专业的目光把屋子扫视了一圈，不由抬起了他那两道浓密的剑眉。这幢房子的确叫人称奇。壁纸、窗帘布、椅垫、椅套，全是一式的图案；墙上的油画镶在厚重的金相框里，显然是布雷德利这家人去罗马时买来的——有拉斐尔派以及圭多·雷尼派的圣母像，有苏卡莱利派的风景画，还有帕尼尼派的真迹。除此之外，屋里还摆着他们去北京时买的纪念品——精雕细刻的黑檀木桌子和景泰蓝大花瓶，也有从智利或者秘鲁买来的玩意儿——硬石刻的胖人儿和陶制花瓶。屋里的写字台是齐本德尔式的，玻璃橱亦是出自名匠之手。灯罩是用白绸做底料，上面不知是哪个没品位的画家画了几个身穿华多式服装的牧童、牧女。屋子里的装饰不伦不类，但不知什么原因却叫人感到温馨。这是一种平凡却又安稳的生活气息，让你觉得这令人无法相信的杂乱之中自有一番情趣。所有这些互不协调的物件合为一个整体，成为布雷德利夫人生活的组成部分。

We had finished our cocktails when the door was flung open and a girl came in, followed by a boy.
大家喝完鸡尾酒，门被推开，进来一个姑娘，身后跟着个小伙子。

“Are we late?”she asked.“I've brought Larry back. Is there anything for him to eat?”
“我们迟了没有？”她问，“我把拉里带回来了。有他的一份饭吃吗？”

“I expect so，”smiled Mrs. Bradley.“Ring the bell and tell Eugene to put another place.”
“我想是有的。”布雷德利夫人笑着说，“你按下铃，叫尤金添个位子。”

“He opened the door for us. I've already told him.”
“刚才是他给我们开的门。我已经告诉他了。”

“This is my daughter Isabel，”said Mrs. Bradley, turning to me.“And this is Laurence Darrell.”
“这是我的女儿伊莎贝尔，”布雷德利夫人转身向我说，“这是劳伦斯·达雷尔。”

Isabel gave me a rapid handshake and turned impetuously to Gregory Brabazon.
伊莎贝尔匆匆跟我握了握手，然后将身子迫不及待地转向了布拉巴宗。

“Are you Mr. Brabazon?I've been crazy to meet you.I love what you've done for Clementine Dormer.Isn't this room terrible?I've been trying to get Mamma to do something about it for years and now you're in Chicago it’s our chance.Tell me honestly what you think of it.”
“你就是布拉巴宗先生吧？一直渴望见到你呢。你替克莱门蒂尼·多摩装饰的屋子我很是喜欢。这屋子是不是很糟糕？我好多年来都劝说妈妈，要把这儿收拾一下，现在你来芝加哥，正是我们千载难逢的好机会。请实言相告，我们家这房子究竟怎么样？”

I knew that was the last thing Brabazon would do. He gave Mrs.Bradley a quick glance, but her impassive face told him nothing.He decided that Isabel was the person who counted and broke into a boisterous laugh.
我知道布拉巴宗绝不会直言相告的。只见他飞快地望了布雷德利夫人一眼，而后者脸上一点表情也没有，看不出任何名堂。后来他断定伊莎贝尔是拿事的人，于是就爆发出一阵响亮的笑声。

“I'm sure it's very comfortable and all that，”he said，“but if you ask me point-blank, well, I do think it's pretty awful.”
“我敢说这屋子是很舒服的，还有其他的优点。”他侃侃而谈，“不过，既然你让我直言相告，那我就说品味上糟得一塌糊涂。”

Isabel was a tall girl with the oval face, straight nose, fine eyes, and full mouth that appeared to be characteristic of the family. She was comely though on the fat side, which I ascribed to her age, and I guessed that she would fine down as she grew older.She had strong, good hands, though they also were a trifle fat, and her legs, displayed by her short skirt, were fat too.She had a good skin and a high colour, which exercise and the drive back in an open car had doubtless heightened.She was sparkling and vivacious.Her radiant health, her playful gaiety, her enjoyment of life, the happiness you felt in her were exhilarating.She was so natural that she made Elliott, for all his elegance, look rather tawdry.Her freshness made Mrs.Bradley, with her pasty, lined face, look tired and old.
伊莎贝尔高个子、鹅蛋脸、直鼻梁，眼睛俊俏，嘴唇丰满，有着布雷德利这家人的特征。她长得很漂亮，只是有些偏胖，我想大概是由于年龄的关系，再过几年，可能就会苗条下来的。她的手结实、好看，不过也有点偏胖，就连短裙下露出的腿肚子也显得胖了些。她肤色健康，泛着红晕，这跟体育锻炼以及刚才开敞篷车回家显然不无关系。她容光焕发，活力四射，散发出蓬勃的朝气，一派顽皮快活的劲儿，流露出对生活的满足以及由衷的幸福感，让人见了为之感到高兴。不管艾略特多么儒雅，比较之下，她的那种自然纯真都会使之显得庸俗。由于她的朝气蓬勃的衬托，布雷德利夫人的那张惨白、满是皱纹的面孔显得疲惫和苍老。

We went down to lunch. Gregory Brabazon blinked when he saw the dining-room.The walls were papered with a dark red paper that imitated stuff and hung with portraits of grim, sour-faced men and women, very badly painted, who were the immediate forebears of the late Mr.Bradley.He was there, too, with a heavy moustache, very stiff in a frock coat and a white starched collar.Mrs.Bradley, painted by a French artist of the nineties, hung over the chimney-piece in full evening dress of pale blue satin with pearls around her neck and a diamond star in her hair.With one bejewelled hand she fingered a lace scarf so carefully painted that you could count every stitch and with the other negligently held an ostrich-feather fan.The furniture, of black oak, was overwhelming.
我们下楼去吃饭。布拉巴宗一看见饭厅，眼睛眨巴了几下。壁上糊着暗红的普通纸，算是冒充壁纸，挂些脸色阴沉死板的男女肖像，画技不堪一提。这些人都是去世的那位布雷德利先生的近系祖先。他自己也在其中，留着浓密的小胡子，僵直的身体穿着双排扣常礼服，戴着浆硬的白领子。一幅布雷德利夫人的肖像，是九〇年代一个法国画家的手笔，挂在壁炉上方，穿一袭灰青缎子的晚礼服，颈挂珍珠链，头发上点缀一颗钻石星，一只戴满珠宝的手捏一条编织领巾（领巾画得极为细腻，连针脚都一一可辨），另一只手随随便便拿一柄鸵鸟羽扇子。屋内家具是黑橡木的，给人以压抑感。

“What do you think of it?”asked Isabel of Gregory Brabazon as we sat down.
“你觉得这东西怎么样？”大家落座后，伊莎贝尔问布拉巴宗。

“I'm sure it cost a great deal of money，”he answered.
“我敢说一定花了不少钱。”他答道。

“It did，”said Mrs. Bradley.“It was given to us as a wedding present by Mr.Bradley's father.It's been all over theworld with us.Lisbon, Peking, Quito, Rome.Dear Queen Margherita admired it very much.”
“的确如此。”布雷德利夫人说，“这是我和布雷德利先生结婚时，他父亲送给我们的礼物，跟着我们跑遍了全世界——里斯本啊，北京啊，基多啊，罗马啊。亲爱的玛格丽达王后非常艳羡它。”

“What would you do if it was yours?”Isabel asked Brabazon, but before he could answer, Elliott answered for him.
“假如是你的，你把它怎么办？”伊莎贝尔问布拉巴宗，可是，不等后者回答，艾略特就替他说了。

“Burn it，”he said.
“付之一炬。”他说。

The three of them began to discuss how they would treat the room. Elliott was all for Louis Quinze, while Isabel wanted a refectory table and Italian chairs.Brabazon thought Chippendale would be more in keeping with Mrs.Bradley's personality.
接下来，三个人你一言我一语地开始讨论如何装饰这房子。艾略特力主装饰成路易十五时代的风格，伊莎贝尔则想要一张修道院里的那种餐桌和一套意大利式椅子。布拉巴宗认为齐本德尔式家具比较适合布雷德利夫人的性格。

“I always think that's so important，”he said，“a person's personality.”He turned to Elliott.“Of course you know the Duchess of Olifant?”
“我一直都认为房子的装饰应该反映出一个人的性格，这是至关紧要的。”他说完，又将身子转向了艾略特。“你当然是认识奥利芬特公爵夫人的喽？”

“Mary?She's one of my most intimate friends.”
“玛丽吗？老朋友了，熟得不能再熟。”

“She wanted me to do her dining-room and the moment I saw her I said George the Second.”
“她要我为她装饰饭厅，我一见她的面，就敲定用乔治二世那时候的风格。”

“How right you were. I noticed the room the last time I dined there.It's in perfect taste.”
“真是英明决断。上次在她家的饭厅吃饭，我注意到了那儿的装饰，其品味无可挑剔。”

So the conversation went on. Mrs.Bradley listened, but you could not tell what she was thinking.I said little, and Isabel's young man, Larry, I'd forgotten his surname, said nothing at all.He was sitting on the other side of the table between Brabazon and Elliott and every now and then I glanced at him.He looked very young.He was about the same height as Elliott, just under six feet, thin and loose-limbed.He was a pleasant-looking boy, neither handsome nor plain, rather shy and in no way remarkable.I was interested in the fact that though, so far as I could remember, he hadn't said half a dozen words since entering the house, he seemed perfectly at ease and in a curious way appeared to take part in the conversation without opening his mouth.I noticed his hands.They were long, but not large for his size, beautifully shaped and at the same time strong.I thought that a painter would be pleased to paint them.He was slightly built but not delicate in appearance；on the contrary I should have said he was wiry and resistant.His face, grave in repose, was tanned, but otherwise there was little colour in it, and his features, though regular enough, were undistinguished.He had rather high cheekbones and his temples were hollow.He had dark brown hair with a slight wave in it.His eyes looked larger than they really were because they were deep set in the orbits and his lashes were thick and long.His eyes were peculiar, not of the rich hazel that Isabel shared with her mother and her uncle, but so dark that the iris made one colour with the pupil, and this gave them a peculiar intensity.He had a natural grace that was attractive and I could see why Isabel had been taken by him.Now and again her glance rested on him for a moment and I seemed to see in her expression not only love but fondness.Their eyes met and there was in his a tenderness that was beautiful to see.There is nothing more touching than the sight of young love, and I, a middle-aged man then, envied them, but at the same time, I couldn't imagine why, I felt sorry for them.It was silly because, so far as I knew, there was no impediment to their happiness；their circumstances seemed easy and there was no reason why they should not marry and live happily ever afterwards.
谈话继续进行。布雷德利夫人侧耳倾听，谁都不知道她心里在想什么。我很少开口，而伊莎贝尔的年轻朋友拉里（我忘记了他姓什么）简直一言不发。他坐在我对面的布拉巴宗和艾略特之间，我不时会看他一眼。他看上去十分年轻，和艾略特一般高，差不多六英尺，瘦瘦的，四肢显得柔软灵活，样子甜甜的，不俊也不丑，相当的腼腆，并无出众之处。我觉得有趣的是，根据我的记忆，自从进屋之后，他话没说上五六句，却显得十分自在，尽管不开口也像是在参加谈话，无不令人称奇。我注意到他的手很长，可是，就他的个头论，不能算大，形状看上去很美，同时又有力。我想画家一定高兴画这双手。他身板比较瘦，但是，看上去并不文弱，相反地，我敢说还颇具力量和韧劲。他的一张脸宁静庄重，晒得黝黑，要不是有这点黝黑，就看不出颜色来了；五官端正，但并不出众；颧骨相当高，太阳穴凹陷，深棕色的头发微微鬈曲，眼睛看上去比实际的要大，那是因为陷在眼窝里很深；睫毛浓而长，眼珠的颜色很特别，不是伊莎贝尔和她母亲、舅舅共有的那种淡褐色，而是一种深深的颜色，虹膜和瞳仁差不多是一个颜色，这给他的眼睛以一种特殊的魅力。他有一种动人的潇洒风度，从中看得出为什么伊莎贝尔对他倾心。她的眼光不时落到他身上，在那儿停留一下，从她的神情里我似乎看得出不但有情爱，而且有慈爱。二人四目相撞时，里面情意绵绵，好一幅美丽的图画。看见年轻男女彼此相爱，是极能感动人的。我，一个步入中年的人，觉得有点眼红，同时不知何故又为他们感到悲哀。若说悲哀，就蠢得没名堂了，因为我明知他们追求幸福的路上没有任何绊脚石——两家的家境似乎都宽裕，没有任何因素可以妨碍他们结婚，妨碍他们在婚后过上幸福的日子。

Isabel, Elliott, and Gregory Brabazon went on talking of the redecoration of the house, trying to get out of Mrs. Bradley at least an admission that something should be done, but she only smiled amiably.
就重新装饰房屋这个话题，伊莎贝尔、艾略特和布拉巴宗说起来没个完，目的就是想让布雷德利夫人吐口，允许开工，可布雷德利夫人只是满脸慈祥地笑笑，硬是不吐这个口。

“You mustn't try to rush me. I want to have time to think it over.”She turned to the boy.“What do you think of it all, Larry?”
“不必操之过急嘛，我想静下心来好好想想。”随后，她转过头问伊莎贝尔的男友：“你是怎么看的，拉里？”

He looked round the table, a smile in his eyes.
拉里向桌子四周环顾一下，眼中露出微笑。

“I don't think it matters one way or the other，”he said.
“我觉得装修不装修都无所谓。”他说。

“You beast, Larry，”cried Isabel.“I particularly told you to back us up.”
“你这个小坏蛋，拉里。”伊莎贝尔嚷嚷道，“我还特地关照过你，让你支持我们呢。”

“If Aunt Louisa is happy with what she's got, what is the object of changing?”
“如果路易莎伯母满足于现状，为什么非得变变样呢？”

His question was so much to the point and so sensible that it made me laugh. He looked at me then and smiled.
他的话说到了点子上，入情入理的，引得我不由大笑一声。拉里看了看我，也咧嘴笑了。

“And don't grin like that just because you've made a very stupid remark，”said Isabel.
“别傻乎乎地笑行不行！你说的话愚蠢到家了。”伊莎贝尔说。

But he only grinned the more, and I noticed then that he had small and white and regular teeth. There was something in the look he gave Isabel that made her flush and catch her breath.Unless I was mistaken she was madly in love with him, but I don't know what it was that gave me the feeling that in her love for him there was also somethingmaternal.It was a little unexpected in so young a girl.With a soft smile on her lips she directed her attention once more to Gregory Brabazon.
拉里没理会，反而笑得更厉害了。我留意到他有一口又白又小的牙齿，整整齐齐的。他望着伊莎贝尔的神情别有深意，叫她脸红起来，呼吸也急促了。假如我没有弄错的话，那她就是疯狂地在爱着他，可是不知道什么缘故，好像她对他的情意里面还有一种母爱的成分。在如此年轻的女孩身上竟然有母爱，让人意想不到。她嘴角浮出温柔的笑意，重又将注意力转向了布拉巴宗。

“Don't pay any attention to him. He's very stupid and entirely uneducated.He doesn't know anything about anything except flying.”
“别理他。他傻得不透气，一点文化也没有，什么都不懂，就知道开飞机。”

“Flying?”I said.
“开什么飞机？”我问。

“He was an aviator in the war.”
“一战中，他是个飞行员呗。”

“I should have thought he was too young to have been in the war.”
“我还以为他那时年纪太小，不能参战呢。”

“He was. Much too young.He behaved very badly.He ran away from school and went to Canada.By lying his head off he got them to believe he was eighteen and got into the air corps.He was fighting in France at the time of the armistice.”
“年纪是很小，而且不是一般的小。他调皮得不得了，逃离学校，跑到加拿大参军，撒了个弥天大谎，让人家相信他已满十八岁，混进了空军。都宣布停战了，他还在法国作战呢。”

“You're boring your mother's guests, Isabel，”said Larry.
“别说这些话了，会让伯母的客人厌烦的，伊莎贝尔。”拉里说。

“I've known him all my life, and when he came back he looked lovely in his uniform, with all those pretty ribbons on his tunic, so I just sat on his doorstep, so to speak, till he consented to marry me just to have a little peace and quiet. The competition was awful.”
“我从小就认识他，他还乡时穿一身军装，外套上挂那么多漂亮的勋章，非常英俊。我坐在他家门口的台阶上不走，缠得他一刻不得安宁，只好答应要娶我为妻。那时候，竞争可真激烈。”

“Really, Isabel，”said her mother.
“真的吗，伊莎贝尔？”她母亲说。

Larry leant over towards me.
拉里冲着我探过了身子。

“I hope you don't believe a word she says. Isabel isn't a bad girl really, but she's a liar.”
“希望你别信她的话，一句也别信。伊莎贝尔不是什么坏女孩，就是爱撒谎。”

Luncheon was finished and soon after Elliott and I left. I had told him before that I was going to the museum to look at the pictures and he said he would take me, I don't particularly like going to a gallery with anyone else, but I could not say I would sooner go alone, so I accepted his company.On our way we spoke of Isabel and Larry.
吃完午饭不久，艾略特和我就告辞了。我先前告诉他打算去博物馆看看画，他说他带我去。我不大愿意有人跟我去逛博物馆，可推辞的话说不出口，无法说我喜欢一个人去，只好接受他的陪同。路上我们谈论起了伊莎贝尔和拉里。

“It's rather charming to see two young things so much in love with one another，”I said.
“看见两个年轻人如此恩恩爱爱，怪叫人感动的。”我说道。

“They're much too young to marry.”
“他们还小，结婚还太早。”

“Why?It's such fun to be young and in love and to marry.”
“怎么早？趁年纪轻时恋爱、结婚，不是挺好嘛。”

“Don't be ridiculous. She's nineteen and he's only just twenty.He hasn't got a job.He has a tiny income, three thousand a year Louisa tells me, and Louisa's not a rich woman by any manner of means.She needs all she has.”
“别说傻话啦。她今年十九岁，拉里也仅仅二十岁，连个工作也没有。他倒是有一笔小进项，一年三千块钱，这是路易莎告诉我的。路易莎不管从哪个方面讲都不算个富人，刚能凑合过日子。”

“Well, he can get a job.”
“哦，那他可以找个工作嘛。”

“That's just it. He's not trying to.He seems to be quite satisfied to do nothing.”
“说的是呀。可他没有这个心思。他好像很满意过这种无所事事的日子。”

“I dare say he had a pretty rough time in the war. He may want a rest.”
“我敢说他在战争中一定吃了不少苦，也许现在想休息一下。”

“He's been resting for a year. That's surely long enough.”
“他休息已有一年了，时间够长的了。”

“I thought he seemed a nice sort of boy.”
“我觉得他像是个很不错的孩子。”

“Oh, I have nothing against him. He's quite well born and all that sort of thing.His father came from Baltimore.He was assistant professor of Romance languages at Yale or something like that.His mother was a Philadelphian of old Quaker stock.”
“哦，我对他毫无成见。他的出身以及所有的一切都挺好的。他的父亲是巴尔的摩人，过去曾在耶鲁大学任教，是罗曼斯语副教授。他的母亲出身于费城教友派的一个古老世家。”

“You speak of them in the past. Are they dead?”
“你口口声声提到过去，难道他的父母都去世了么？”

“Yes, his mother died in childbirth and his father about twelve years ago. He was brought up by an old college friend of his father's who's a doctor at Marvin.That's how Louisa and Isabel knew him.”
“是的，他母亲生孩子难产而死，父亲约在十二年前去世。他是他父亲的一个大学同学抚养大的，那人是马文的一个医生。路易莎跟伊莎贝尔就是这样才认识他的。”

“Where's Marvin?”
“马文在哪儿？”

“That's where the Bradley place is. Louisa spends the summer there.She was sorry for the child.Dr.Nelson's a bachelor and didn't know the first thing about bringing up a boy.It was Louisa who insisted that he should be sent to St.Paul's and she always had him out here for his Christmas vacation.”Elliott shrugged a Gallic shoulder.“I should have thought she would foresee the inevitable result.”
“布雷德利家的产业在那个地方，是路易莎的消夏之地。她见了那孩子，觉得挺可怜的。纳尔逊医生是个单身汉，对怎样带孩子连初步的常识都不知道。路易莎力主把这孩子送到圣保罗中学求学，每逢圣诞节便接他出来过节。”艾略特模仿法国人那样耸了一下肩膀，“我想她当初应该能预料到会有这样的结果。”

We had now arrived at the museum and our attention was directed to the pictures. Once more I was impressed by Elliott's knowledge and taste.He shepherded me around the rooms as though I were a group of tourists, and no professor of art could have discoursed more instructively than he did.Making up my mind to come again by myself when I could wander at will and have a good time, I submitted；after a while he looked at his watch.
说话间，我们已走到博物馆，注意力也就转移到了绘画上。艾略特的见识和品味又令我拜服了一番。他领着我在画廊里转来转去，仿佛我是一群游客似的，讲解起那些画来，恐怕任何一个美术教授都不如他传授的知识多。我决定独自再来一次，那时自己可以由着性子转悠，自得其乐，现在先听他讲好了。过了一会儿，他看了一下表。

“Let us go，”he said.“I never spend more than one hour in a gallery. That is as long as one's power of appreciation persists.We will finish another day.”
“咱们走吧。”他说，“在画廊里，我所待的时间从不超过一小时。一小时是一个人欣赏力所能坚持的极限。咱们改天再来看完它。”

I thanked him warmly when we separated. I went my way perhaps a wiser but certainly a peevish man. When I was saying good-bye to Mrs. Bradley she told me that next day Isabel was having a few of her young friends in to dinner and they were going on to dance afterwards, and if I would come Elliott and I could have a talk when they had gone.
分手时，我满口道谢。打道回府时，知识面也许扩大了一些，但我心里产生了几丝恼意。我和布雷德利夫人告别时，她告诉我第二天伊莎贝尔要请她几位年轻朋友来家里吃晚饭，饭后约好去跳舞；我要是愿意来的话，年轻人们走后，我还可以跟艾略特谈谈。

“You'll be doing him a kindness，”she added.“He's been abroad so long, he feels rather out of it here. He doesn't seem able to find anyone he has anything in common with.”
“你这等于是帮他的忙哩。”布雷德利夫人当时补充说，“他在外国待得太久了，回到这里觉得不合群，似乎找不到一个志同道合的人。”

I accepted and before we parted on the museum steps Elliott told me he was glad I had.
我当即接受了她的邀请。此时在博物馆门口台阶上两人分手时，艾略特告诉我，他很高兴我答应了下来。

“I'm like a lost soul in this great city，”he said.“I promised Louisa to spend six weeks with her, we hadn't seen one another since 1912，but I'm counting the days till I can get back to Paris. It's the only place in the world for a civilized man to live.My dear fellow, d'you know how they look upon me here?They look upon me as a freak.Savages.”
“在这座大城里，我就像一个迷途的幽灵。”他说道，“我答应路易莎跟她住六个星期。我们姐弟自从一九一二年后彼此就没有见过。可是，我盼着回巴黎真是归心似箭，在这里度日如年。在这个世界上，唯有巴黎适合于文明人居住。我亲爱的朋友，你知道他们这儿把我看作什么？在他们眼里我是一个怪物！这些野蛮人！”

I laughed and left.
我听后打了个哈哈，然后抽身走了。