双语·《刀锋》 第七章 三

CHAPTER SEVEN 3
第七章 三

A few days later I started for England. My intention had been to go straight through, but after what had happened I particularly wanted to see Isabel, so I decided to stop in Paris for twenty-four hours.I wired to her to ask if I could come in late in the afternoon and stay to dinner；when I reached my hotel I found a note from her to say that she and Gray were dining out, but that she would be very glad to see me if I would come not before half past five as she had afitting.
几天之后，我启程前往英国。起初我打算直达彼地，但经过了这一通变故之后，特别想见见伊莎贝尔，于是决定在巴黎停留二十四小时。我给她发了封电报，希望能在下午晚一些时候去她家坐坐，并留下来吃晚饭。到了旅馆，我看见她留的一张便条，说她和格雷晚上有饭局，提出欢迎我在下午五点半之前去，因为她去赴宴前需要更换衣服。

It was chilly and raining off and on quite heavily, so that I presumed Gray would not have gone to Mortefontaine to play golf. This did not suit me very well, since I wanted to see Isabel alone, but when I arrived at the apartment the first thing she said was that Gray was at the Travellers playing bridge.
天气寒冷，下着大雨，下一阵停一阵。这样的天气，格雷不大可能去莫特芳丹打高尔夫了。这对我不是件好事，因为我想单独见见伊莎贝尔。不过，到了他们家的公寓，伊莎贝尔一见我就说格雷到旅行者俱乐部打桥牌去了。

“I told him not to be too late if he wanted to see you, but we're not dining till nine, which means we needn't get there before nine-thirty, so we've got plenty of time for a good talk. I've got all sorts of things to tell you.”
“我对他说，如果想见你，就不要回家太晚。不过，我们的那个晚宴推迟到了晚上九点钟，九点半赶去就行。所以，咱们有的是时间好好聊一聊，我有许多事情要告诉你呢。”

They had sublet the apartment, and the sale of Elliott's collection was to take place in a fortnight. They wanted to attend it and were moving into the Ritz.Then they were sailing.Isabel was selling everything except the modern pictures that Elliott had had in his house at Antibes.Though she didn't care much for them she thought quite rightly that they would be a prestige item in their future home.
他们已经把公寓转租出去。艾略特的藏画将在两星期内拍卖。拍卖时他们要到场，所以正准备搬到里茨饭店去住。此事一完，他们就乘船回美国。伊莎贝尔打算把能卖的都卖掉，只留下艾略特在安提比斯家中挂的那些近代画。她虽然并不是十分喜欢这些画，但明智地判断，将来搬到新家，这些画可以起到提高品味的作用。

“It's a pity poor Uncle Elliott wasn't more advanced. Picasso, Matisse, and Rouault, you know.I suppose his pictures are good in their way, but I'm afraid they'll seem rather old-fashioned.”
“遗憾的是，可怜的艾略特舅舅不是很前卫。你知道，毕加索、马蒂斯以及鲁奥的画是很时尚的。艾略特舅舅的画自有其精彩之处，不过怕是过时了些。”

“I wouldn't bother about that if I were you. Other painters will come along in a few years and Picasso and Matisse won't seem any more up to date than your Impressionists.”
“我要是你，就不操这份心。用不了几年，又会出现一些新的画家。到那时，毕加索和马蒂斯的作品与你的这些印象派画作相比较，也就不见得前卫了。”

Gray was in process of concluding his negotiations and with the capital provided by Isabel was to enter a flourishing business as vice-president. It was connected with oil and they were to live at Dallas.
格雷和一家生意兴隆的企业在谈判，目前已接近尾声。有伊莎贝尔的钱作为资本，他将会荣任副总裁。这家企业的业务与石油有关，所以他们准备举家迁居达拉斯。

“The first thing we shall have to do is to find a suitable house. I want a nice garden so that Gray can have somewhere to potter about when he comes home from work and I must have a really large living-room so that I can entertain.”
“我们要做的第一件事情就是找一座合适的住房，有漂亮的花园，好让格雷下班回家后有个地方务花弄草，还必须有一个大大的客厅招待客人。”

“I wonder yon don't take Elliott's furniture over with you.”
“真不知你为何不把艾略特的家具也带走。”

“I don't think it would be very suitable. I shall make it all modern, with perhaps just a little touch of Mexican here and there to give it a note.As soon as I get to New York I'll find out who is the decorator everyone's going to now.”
“我觉得这套家具很不合适。我想要的是摩登家具，也许带一点墨西哥情调加以点缀。一到纽约我就去打听，看哪一家装饰公司当下最吃香。”

Antoine, the manservant, brought in a tray with an array of bottles, and Isabel, always tactful, knowing that nine men out of ten are convinced they can mix a better cocktail than any woman（and they're right），asked me to shake a couple. I poured out the gin and the Noilly-Prat and added the dash of absinthe that transforms a dry Martini from a nondescript drink to one for which the gods of Olympus would undoubtedly have abandoned their home-brewed nectar, a beverage that I have always thought must have been rather like Coca-Cola.I noticed a book on the table as I handed Isabel her glass.
此时，男仆安托万端着个托盘走了过来，上面放着几个酒瓶。伊莎贝尔历来善于察言观色，知道男人十个有九个都觉得自己调鸡尾酒比女人技高一筹（情况的确如此），故而请我调两杯。我把杜松子酒和一种法国酒倒出来一些，掺上少量的苦艾酒。这种苦艾酒可以将干马丁尼从没名堂的酒化为仙露，就连奥林匹斯山上的神仙也肯定愿意舍弃山上自酿的酒，跑来一品为快。我自己倒是一直觉得这种酒的口感更像是可口可乐。我把调好的酒递给伊莎贝尔时，注意到桌上有一本书。

“Hello！”I said.“Here's Larry's book.”
“哈！这是拉里写的书！”我说道。

“Yes, it came this morning, but I've been so busy, I had a thousand things to do before lunch and I was lunching out and I was at Molyneux's this afternoon. I don't know when I shall have a moment to get down to it.”
“是的，今天上午寄来的。我忙得焦头烂额，手头乱事如麻。中午有饭局，下午又去了一趟莫利纽克斯服装店。真不知何时才有闲空看这书呢。”

I thought with melancholy how an author spends months writing a book, and may be puts his heart's blood into it, and then it lies about unread till the reader has nothing else in the world to do. It was a volume of three hundred pages nicely printed and neatly bound.
一个作家成年累月地写一本书，也许呕心沥血才写成，却被人随手放在一旁，等到实在无事可做时才看上两眼，想起来便叫人心寒。拉里的这本书共三百页，印刷质量好，装帧精美。

“I suppose you know Larry has been in Sanary all the winter. Did you see him by any chance?”
“你可能也知道拉里一冬天都住在萨纳里。你见过他的面吗？”

“Yes, we were at Toulon together only the other day.”
“见过。前两天我们俩还去了趟土伦呢。”

“Were you?What were you doing there?”
“是吗？去土伦干什么？”

“Burying Sophie.”
“为索菲办丧事。”

“She's not dead?”cried Isabel.
“难道她死了不成？”伊莎贝尔惊叫了一声。

“If she hadn't been we'd have had no plausible reason to bury her.”
“如果她没死，我们又有什么理由为她办丧事呢？”

“That's not funny.”She paused for a second.“I'm not going to pretend I'm sorry. A combination of drink and dope, I suppose.”
“这种事可开不得玩笑。”她打住话头，停了一下才又说道，“不过，也没有什么伤心的。她一定是酗酒和吸毒过量导致的死亡。”

“No, she had her throat cut and was thrown into the sea stark naked.”
“不是的。她是被人割了脖子，赤身裸体抛到了海里。”

Like the brigadier at St. Jean I found myself impelled a trifle to exaggerate her undress.
我的感觉大概和圣让的那位“将军”警察一样，认为有必要稍加渲染索菲赤身裸体的状况。

“How horrible！Poor thing. Of course leading the life she did she was bound to come to a bad end.”
“太可怕了！可怜的人儿。她那样放浪形骸，必然会有这种悲惨的结局。”

“That's what the commissaire de police at Toulon said.”
“土伦的警察总长也是这么说的。”

“Do they know who did it?”
“他们知道凶手是谁吗？”

“No, but I do. I think you killed her.”
“不知道，但是我知道。我认为是你杀了她。”

She gave me a stare of amazement.
她一听，惊愕万状地望着我发呆。

“What are you talking about?”Then with the ghost of a chuckle：“Guess again；I have a cast-iron alibi.”
“你在胡说什么呀？”她说完，阴阳怪气地扑哧一笑，“随你胡扯去吧。我可是能证实自身清白的，证实我没有去过犯罪现场。”

“I ran across her at Toulon last summer. I had a long talk with her.”
“去年夏天，我在土伦碰见了她，和她进行了一次长谈。”

“Was she sober?”
“她没有喝醉吧？”

“Sufficiently. She told me how it happened that she'd disappeared so unaccountably just a few days before she was going to be married to Larry.”
“没有，脑子很清楚。想当初她准备嫁给拉里，可就在举行婚礼的前几天，她却莫名其妙地不见了踪影。她把前因后果都告诉了我。”

I noticed Isabel's face stiffen. I proceeded to tell her exactly what Sophie had told me.She listened warily.
我注意到伊莎贝尔脸上的肌肉变得僵硬。接下来，我便将索菲的话一五一十复述了一遍。她侧耳倾听着，神情专注。

“I've thought of her story a good deal since then and the more I've thought about it the more convinced I am that there's something fishy about it. I've lunched here twenty times and you never have liqueurs for luncheon.You'd been lunching alone.Why should there have been a bottle of zubrovka on the tray with the coffee-cup?”
“后来，我把她的遭遇想了许久，越想越觉得蹊跷。我来你家吃午饭足有二十次了，从未见你午饭喝过酒。那天你一个人吃午饭，为什么放咖啡杯子的盘里有一瓶齐白露加酒呢？”

“Uncle Elliott had just sent it to me. I wanted to see if I liked it as much as when I'd had it at the Ritz.”
“那是艾略特舅舅叫人刚送来的。我想尝几口，看是不是和我在里茨饭店喝的那样合口味。”

“Yes, I remember how you raved about it then. I was surprised, as you never drink liqueurs anyway；you're much too careful of your figure for that.I had at the time an impression that you were trying to tantalize Sophie.I thought it was just malice.”
“不错，记得你曾交口称赞那酒。我当时有点奇怪，因为你是从不喝那种甜酒的——你非常注意自己的身材，怕喝甜酒会坏了身段。那时候我有个印象，觉得你不怀好意，是在引诱索菲上钩。”

“Thank you.”
“承蒙夸奖。”

“On the whole you're very good at keeping appointments. Why should you have gone out when you were expecting Sophie for something so important to her and interesting to you as a fitting of her wedding dress?”
“一般来说，你和人约会是很守时的。你既然约索菲去试衣服——这对她很重要，对你则很有趣，那你为什么不在家等她呢？”

“She told you that herself. I wasn't happy about Joan's teeth.Our dentist is very busy and I just had to take the time he could give me.”
“这是她跟你说的吗？琼的牙齿叫我很担心。牙医忙得不得了，只能按他约的时间去。”

“When one goes to a dentist one makes the next appointment before leaving.”
“看牙医，一般都是在看病时就约好下一次去的时间。”

“I know. But he called me up in the morning and said he had to break it, but could give me three o'clock that afternoon instead, so of course I jumped at it.”
“我知道。可是，他早上打电话给我，说不能按以前约好的时间看病，建议改为下午三点钟，我当然接受了他的建议。”

“Couldn't the governess have taken Joan?”
“难道就不能叫保姆带琼去吗？”

“She was scared, poor darling, I felt she'd be happier if I went with her.”
“那可怜的孩子吓得要命，我觉得亲自陪她去，她心里会踏实些。”

“And when you came back and found the bottle of zubrovka three parts empty and Sophie gone, weren't you rather surprised?”
“你回来的时候，看见那瓶齐白露加酒有四分之三都被人喝掉了，索菲也不见了，你难道不感到奇怪吗？”

“I thought she'd got tired of waiting and gone on to Molyneux's by herself. I couldn't make it out when I went there and they told me she hadn't been.”
“我以为她等得不耐烦，自己去莫利纽克斯服装店了。我赶到那儿一问，才知道她并没有去，一时觉得莫名其妙。”

“And the zubrovka?”
“那瓶齐白露加酒怎么解释？”

“Well, I did notice that a good deal had been drunk. I thought Antoine had drunk it and I very nearly spoke to him about it, but Uncle Elliott was paying for him and he was a friend of Joseph's, so I thought I'd better ignore it.He's a very good servant and if he takes a little nip now and then who am I to blame him?”
“哦，我的确看出酒被喝掉许多，还以为是安托万偷喝的呢，差一点责问他。后来觉得他的工资是艾略特舅舅付的，他又是约瑟夫的朋友，所以没有加以追究。他是个很尽职的仆人，即使偶尔偷点嘴，我也犯不着责备他。”

“What a liar you are, Isabel.”
“你可真会撒谎，伊莎贝尔。”

“Don't you believe me?”
“你不相信吗？”

“Not for a moment.”
“根本不相信。”

Isabel got up and walked over to the chimney-piece. There was a wood fire and it was pleasant on that dreary day.She stood with one elbow on the mantel-shelf in a graceful attitude which it was one of her most charming gifts to be able to assume without any appearance of intention.Like most French women of distinction she dressed in black in the daytime, which peculiarly suited her rich colouring, and on this occasion she wore a dress the expensive simplicity of which displayed her slender figure to advantage.She puffed at her cigarette for a minute.
伊莎贝尔起身，走到了壁炉架跟前。壁炉里炉火熊熊，在这阴冷天叫人感到惬意。她把一个胳膊肘支在壁炉板上，姿态优雅——这是她最为迷人的一种天赋，既仪态万方，又不露任何做作的痕迹。多数有身份的法国女子白日喜欢穿一身黑色的素装，她也一样。这样的装束和她那凝脂一般的肤色相得益彰。这次她穿的衣服款式简单，质料贵重，充分凸显了她那窈窕婀娜的身段。她不停地抽烟，抽了好一会儿。

“There's no reason why I shouldn't be perfectly frank with you. It was most unfortunate that I had to go out and of course Antoine should never have left the liqueur and the coffee-things in the room.They ought to have been takenaway when I went out.When I came back and saw the bottle was nearly empty of course I knew what had happened, and when Sophie disappeared I guessed she'd gone off on a bat.I didn't say anything about it because I thought it would only distress Larry, and he was worried enough as it was.”
“无论怎么说，我都应该对你无所隐瞒。那天我有事外出，实属不幸。安托万实在不应当把齐白露加酒和咖啡饮具留在房间里。我出门后，就应该将那些东西撤掉。我回到家，见那瓶酒几成空瓶，当然知道是怎么回事。后来索菲失踪，我猜想她一定故态复萌，纵酒狂欢去了。我之所以只字未提此事，是怕雪上加霜，徒增拉里的烦恼。拉里为此事牵肠挂肚，已经够心烦意乱的了。”

“Are you sure the bottle wasn't left there on your explicit instructions?”
“你敢说那瓶酒不是你故意放在那儿的吗？”

“Quite.”
“我敢说。”

“I don't believe you.”
“我不相信。”

“Don't then.”She flung the cigarette viciously into the fire. Her eyes were dark with anger.“All right, if you want the truth you can have it and to hell with you.I did it and I'd do it again.I told you I'd stick at nothing to prevent her from marrying Larry.You wouldn't do a thing, either you or Gray.You just shrugged your shoulders and said it was a terrible mistake.You didn't care a damn.I did.”
“不相信就不相信呗。”她一甩手，恶狠狠地把纸烟扔进了炉火里，一双美目怒火燃烧，“那好吧，既然你想了解真相，那我就告诉你吧，然后你就给我滚蛋。是我着意那样做的，而且绝不后悔。我告诉过你，说我会不惜一切代价阻止她嫁给拉里。你和格雷只会袖手旁观，不关心拉里的痛痒。你们只会耸耸肩膀，事后会说他们的婚姻是个弥天大错。你们不关心，可我关心。”

“If you'd left her alone she'd be alive now.”
“如果你不加以阻挠，她现在还活着呢。”

“Married to Larry and he'd be utterly miserable. He thought he'd make a new woman of her.What fools men are！I knew that sooner or later she'd break down.It stuck out a mile.You saw yourself when we were all lunching together at the Ritz how jittery she was.I noticed you looking at her when she was drinking her coffee；her hand was shaking so, she was afraid to take the cup with one hand, she had to put both her hands to it to get it up to her mouth.I noticed her watching the wine when the waiter filled our glasses；she followed the bottle with those horrible washed-out eyes of hers like a snake following the fluttering of a new-fledged chick and I knew she'd give her soul for a drink.”
“她嫁给拉里，会将拉里抛入痛苦的深渊。拉里想入非非，以为如此可以叫她脱胎换骨、重新做人。男人全都是些傻瓜！我知道她迟早都会再次堕落——这是明摆着的。那次在里茨饭店聚餐，你也看到了她是多么焦躁不安。她喝咖啡时，我留意到你在看她——她的手抖得厉害，一只手不敢拿杯子，只好用两只手捧到嘴边喝。我看到侍者给咱们倒酒时，她的眼睛贪婪地跟着瓶子转，就像一条蛇盯着一只羽毛方满的小鸡拍翅似的。我知道她哪怕出卖灵魂，也会弄一杯喝的。”

Isabel faced me now, her eyes flashing with passion, and her voice was harsh. She couldn't get the words out quickly enough.
伊莎贝尔把脸直对着我，眼里射出两道光来，声色俱厉，加快语速说了下去。

“The idea came to me when Uncle Elliott made all that fuss about that damned Polish liqueur. I thought it beastly, but I pretended it was the most wonderful stuff I'd ever tasted.I was certain that if she got a chance she'd never have the strength to resist.That's why I took her to the dress show.That's why I offered to make her a present of her wedding dress.That day, when she was going to have the last fitting, I told Antoine I'd have the zubrovka after lunch and then I told him I was expecting a lady and to ask her to wait and offer her some coffee and to leave the liqueur in case she fancied a glass.I did take Joan to the dentist’s, but of course we hadn’t an appointment and he couldn’t see us, so I took her to a newsreel.I’d made up my mind that if I found Sophie hadn’t touched the stuff I’d make the best of things and try to be friends with her.That’s true, I swear it.But when I got home and saw the bottle I knew I’d been right.She’d gone and I’d have bet any money in the world she’d gone for good.”
“当艾略特舅舅把那难喝的波兰酒大吹特吹的时候，我心里就有了一计。我觉得那酒味道像马尿，然而我却对其大加赞扬，说我从未喝过这样味道棒到了极点的美酒。我当时就断定，索菲一旦接触到这酒，便难以抵挡住诱惑。于是我就依计行事，又是带她去看时装展览，又是提出要送她一套结婚礼服。约她最后试样的那天，我告诉安托万，说我午饭后要喝齐白露加酒，后又说我约了一位女士来，女士来后让她等一等，喝上一杯咖啡，把酒也留下，她想喝就让她喝。我的确把琼带到了牙医那里，但没有预先约好，医生不能为琼看病。离开诊所，我带琼去电影院看了场纪录片。我打定主意，如果索菲没有碰那波兰酒，我便真心实意和她交朋友。这是真的，我发誓。可是，我回家一看那酒瓶，便知道自己的判断是正确的。她不见了踪影，我敢拿生命打赌，她这一去将永不回头。”

Isabel was actually panting when she finished.
伊莎贝尔说完，已娇喘吁吁。

“That's more or less what I imagined had happened，”I said.“You see, I was right；you cut her throat as surely as if you'd drawn the knife across it with your own hands.”
“我早就猜想到是这么回事。”我说道，“瞧，我刚才所言不虚。你这样做就跟亲手用刀抹她的脖子没什么两样。”

“She was bad, bad, bad. I'm glad she's dead.”She threw herself into a chair.“Give me a cocktail, damn you.”
“她是个可恶、邪恶的坏女人，她死了大快人心。”她说着，猛地一屁股坐在了一把椅子上，“给我一杯鸡尾酒，你这浑蛋。”

I went over and mixed another.
我走过去，又调制了一杯。

“You are a mean devil，”she said as she took it from me. Then she allowed herself to smile.Her smile was like a child's that knows it's been naughty, but thinks it can wheedle you by its ingenuous charm not to be cross.“You won't tell Larry, will you?”
“你是个卑鄙的坏蛋。”她从我手里接过鸡尾酒时说。随后，她挤出了一个笑容，就像是一个做了错事的孩子一样，装出一副天真无邪的样子蒙骗你，想叫你不要生气。“你不会告诉拉里吧？”

“I wouldn't dream of it.”
“我想都不会往这方面想。”

“Cross your heart?Men are so untrustworthy.”
“你能对天发誓吗？男人说话是靠不住的。”

“I promise you I won't. But even if I wanted to, I shouldn't have an opportunity as I don't suppose I shall ever see him again in my life.”
“我发誓绝不告诉他。即便我想告诉他，也不会有这个机会的，恐怕我今生今世再也见不上他了。”

She sat bolt upright.
她一听，立刻坐直了身子。

“What do you mean?”
“这话是什么意思？”

“At this moment, he's on a freighter, either as a deck hand or a stoker, on his way to New York.”
“此时此刻，他已登上了一艘货轮，或者当船员或者当司炉，正在向纽约进发。”

“You don't mean that?What a strange creature he is！He was up here a few weeks ago for something to do with his book that he had to look up at the public library, but he never said a word about going to America. I'm glad；that meanswe shall see him.”
“此话当真？他真是个怪人！几个星期前，他还来了一趟这里，为他那本书上公共图书馆查资料，却没听他说一句要到美国去的话。这样倒好，我们可以在美国相见了。”

“I doubt it. His America will be as remote from your America as the Gobi desert.”
“对此我表示怀疑。他的美国跟你们的美国相去甚远，要隔上十万八千里呢。”

Then I told her what he had done and what he intended to do. She listened to me open-mouthed.Consternation was written on her face.She interrupted me now and then with an interjection“He's crazy.He's crazy.”When I had finished she hung her head and I saw two tears trickle down her cheeks.
接下来，我就把拉里的所作所为以及他的抱负叙述了一番，听得她目瞪口呆，一脸的惊愕，时不时打断我的话，连声说“他疯了，他疯了”。我说完之后，只见她垂头丧气，两行热泪滚滚而下。

“Now I really have lost him.”
“这下子，我真的失去了他。”

She turned away from me and wept, leaning her face against the back of the chair. Her lovely face was twisted with the grief she did not care to hide.There was nothing I could do.I didn't know what vain, conflicting hopes she had cherished that my tidings had finally shattered.I had a vague notion that to see him occasionally, at least to know that he was part of her world, had been a bond of union, however tenuous, that his action had finally severed so that she knew herself for ever bereft.I wondered what unavailing regret afflicted her.I thought it would do her good to cry.I picked up Larry's book and looked at the table of contents.My copy had not arrived when I left the Riviera and I could not now hope to get it for several days.It was not in the least the sort of thing I expected.It was a collection of essays of about the same length as those in Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians, upon a number of famous persons.The choice he had made puzzled me.There was one on Sulla, the Roman dictator who, having achieved absolute power, resigned it to return to private life；there was one on Akbar, the Mogul conqueror who won an empire；there was one on Rubens, there was one on Goethe, and there was one on the Lord Chesterfield of the Letters.It was obvious that each of the essays had needed a tremendous amount of reading and I was no longer surprised that it had taken Larry so long to produce this book, but I could not see why he had thought it worth while to give it so much time or why he had chosen those particular men to study.Then it occurred to me that every one of them in his own way had made a supreme success of life and I guessed that this was what had interested Larry.He was curious to see what in the end it amounted to.
她转过身去，脸抵着椅背嘤嘤哭了起来。她毫不掩饰内心的悲伤，一场痛哭让美丽的脸都变了形。我一时束手无策。她究竟怀着怎样缥缈、矛盾的希望（而在我的叙述之后那些希望全都化为了泡影），便不得而知了。我朦胧觉得，她原以为只要能偶尔见见拉里，最起码知道他仍是她生活的一个组成部分，这便可以将他们联系在一起，不管这种联系是多么薄弱，而今拉里斩断了这一联系，使她觉得自己永远失去了他。我感到纳闷，不知她是否觉得自己白费了一番心机，留下的只是满肚子的懊悔。就让她哭吧，哭出来也许心里会好受一些。我拿起拉里的书，将目录浏览了一眼。我离开里维埃拉时，他寄给我的书还没有收到，估计几天内是拿不到手的。书写得完全出乎我的意料，是一本论文集，篇幅和里顿·斯特拉奇的《维多利亚女王时代名人传》相仿，论述了若干名人。书中所选的内容叫我百思不得其解。有一篇是写古罗马独裁者苏拉的——苏拉在独揽大权之后，退位归隐；还有一篇写蒙古征服者阿克巴尔——此人缔造了一个大帝国；一篇写鲁本斯，一篇写歌德，一篇写查斯特菲尔德勋爵。显而易见，每写一篇论文都必须阅读大量的资料，难怪拉里用了那么长的时间才把书写完。我真不明白他为什么舍得花大把的时间写这本书，也不明白他为何要选这些人物作为研究对象。我突然产生了一种想法，觉得拉里可能认为这些人在自己不同的领域取得了辉煌的成就，于是便有了研究的兴趣。他有心弄个水落石出，研究一下他们的成就究竟产生了什么样的影响。

I skimmed a page to see how he wrote. His style was scholarly, but lucid and easy.There was nothing in it of the pretentiousness or the pedantry that too often characterizes the writing of the amateur.One could tell that he had frequented the best authors as assiduously as Elliott Templeton frequented the nobility and gentry.I was interrupted by a sigh from Isabel.She sat up and finished with a grimace the cocktail which was now luke-warm.
我粗粗浏览了一页，想看看他的文笔如何，发现他用的是学术文章的那种风格，但措辞简洁、语气明快，全然没有刚入门新手的那种咬文嚼字、卖弄辞藻的生涩气。看得出，他非常熟悉那些优秀作家，就跟艾略特·邓普顿熟悉达官贵人一样。我的思绪被伊莎贝尔的一声叹息打断了。只见她苦着脸将杯中由热变温的鸡尾酒一饮而尽。

“If I don't stop crying my eyes'll be terrible and we're going out to dinner tonight.”She took a mirror out of her bag and looked at herself anxiously.“Yes, half an hour with an ice bag over my eyes, that's what I want.”She powdered her face and reddened her lips. Then she looked at me reflectively.“Do you think any the worse of me for what I did?”
“我不能再哭了，会把眼睛哭肿的，晚上还有个饭局呢。”她从包里取出一个小镜子，担心地左照右照，“随他去吧。我只想有个冰袋敷在眼上，敷个半小时。”接下来，她在脸上扑了粉，涂了口红。之后，她若有所思地望着我问道：“我做了那种事情，你不会因此对我有不好的看法吧？”

“Would you care?”
“你在乎我的看法吗？”

“Strange as it may seem to you, I would. I want you to think well of me.”
“你也许会奇怪，我在乎。我希望你对我有好的看法。”

I grinned.
我笑了笑，说道：

“My dear, I'm a very immoral person，”I answered.“When I'm really fond of anyone, though I deplore his wrongdoing it doesn't make me less fond of him. You're not a bad woman in your way and you have every grace and every charm.I don't enjoy your beauty any the less because I know how much it owes to the happy combination of perfect taste and ruthless determination.You only lack one thing to make you completely enchanting.”
“亲爱的，我是一个极没有道德观念的人。我一旦喜欢上一个人，即便不赞成他干下伤天害理的事情，也还会照样喜欢他。你是个不错的女人，自有你的风采——仪态万方、魅力四射。我不会因为你的行为稍稍看低你的美丽，因为我十分清楚你的美丽完美地综合了高雅的品味以及残酷无情的意志。你只需要一样东西，就可以使你的魅力趋于完善。”

She smiled and waited.
她嫣然一笑，等待着我说下去。

“Tenderness.”
“那就是温柔。”

The smile died on her lips and she gave me a glance that was totally lacking in amenity, but before she could collect herself to reply Gray lumbered into the room. In the three years he had been in Paris Gray had put on a good many pounds, his face had grown redder, and his hair was thinning rapidly, but he was in rude health and in high spirits.He was unaffectedly pleased to see me.Gray's conversation was composed of clichés.However shop-worn, he uttered them with an obvious conviction that he was the first person to think of them.He never went to bed, but hit the hay, where he slept the sleep of the just；if it rained, it rained to beat the band and to the very end Paris to him was Gay Paree.But he was so kindly, so unselfish, so upright, so reliable, so unassuming that it was impossible not to like him.I had areal affection for him.He was excited now over their approaching departure.
她唇边的笑意倏然不见了踪影，横扫了我一眼，目光里没有一丝一毫的善意。她定了定神，正要回话，却见格雷摇摇晃晃走了进来。在巴黎住的这三年，他增加了好多磅的体重，脸色比以前更红了，头发秃得厉害，但健康状况良好，情绪高涨。看见我，他简直掩饰不住内心的高兴。他说话时夹带着许多口头禅，明明是用滥了的词语，他却深信不疑自己是第一个使用者。什么“不做亏心事不怕鬼敲门”啦，“屋漏偏逢连阴雨”啦，以及“路遥知马力，日久见人心”什么的。不过，他心地善良，为人无私、正直、可靠，没一点架子，叫你不可能不喜欢他。我对他有一种发自于内心的真情实感。谈到即将回到祖国，他又兴奋又激动。

“Gosh, it'll be great to get into harness again，”he said.“I'm feeling my oats already.”
“万事俱备，只欠东风了。”他说道，“我已整装待发。”

“Is it all settled then?”
“是否已万事俱备了呢？”

“I haven't signed on the dotted line yet, but it's on ice. The fella I'm going in with was a room-mate of mine at college, and he's a good scout, and I'm dead sure he wouldn’t hand me a lemon.But as soon as we get to New York I’ll fly down to Texas to give the outfit the once-over, and you bet I’ll keep my eyes peeled for a nigger in the woodpile before I cough up any of Isabel’s dough.”
“已是板上钉钉的事了，只剩下在合同上签字了。我未来的合伙人是我大学时的一个舍友，一个挺不错的人，绝对不会叫我吃亏的。不过，一抵达纽约，我还是要即刻飞往得克萨斯落实细节，拿着伊莎贝尔的钱，我可要不见兔子不撒鹰。”

“Gray's a very good businessman, you know，”she said.
“谁都知道，格雷做生意是有一套的。”伊莎贝尔说。

“I wasn't raised in a barn，”he smiled.
“我可不是个只知道种田的乡巴佬。”格雷笑了笑说。

He went on to tell me at somewhat excessive length about the business he was entering, but I understood little of such matters and the only concrete fact I gathered was that he stood a good chance of making a lot of money. He grew so interested in what he was saying that presently he turned to Isabel and said：
接下来，他就滔滔不绝地讲起了他将要涉足的生意，一讲就收不住口了。可是，我对这种事情一窍不通，只听明白了一点——他将时来运转、财源滚滚。他越说兴致越高。过了一会儿，他扭过头对伊莎贝尔说：

“Look here, why shouldn't we cut this lousy party and us three go and have a slap-up dinner at the Tour d'Argent by ourselves?”
“依我看，咱们把今晚那讨厌的饭局推掉算啦，咱们三个到银塔餐厅消消停停地吃饭岂不痛快。你觉得呢？”

“Oh, darling, we can't do that. They're giving the party for us.”
“这可不行，亲爱的，不能这样做事。这个饭局是他们专门为你我而设的。”

“Anyhow, I couldn't come now，”I interrupted.“When I heard you were fixed up this evening I called up Suzanne Rouvier and arranged to take her out.”
“你们去吧，反正我也是抽不出身的。”我插嘴说，“一听说你们有饭局，我就打电话约了苏姗娜·鲁维埃，和她一起出去吃饭。”

“Who's Suzanne Rouvier?”asked Isabel.
“苏姗娜·鲁维埃是谁？”伊莎贝尔问。

“Oh, one of Larry's gals，”I said to tease her.
“哦，是拉里的一个女朋友。”我故意逗她说道。

“I always suspected Larry had a little floozie tucked away somewhere，”said Gray, with a fat chuckle.
“我早就怀疑拉里金屋藏娇，瞒着咱们呢。”格雷说完，咯咯咯地笑个不停。

“Nonsense，”snapped Isabel.“I know all about Larry's sex life. There isn't any.”
“没影儿的事。”伊莎贝尔打抱不平地说，“拉里的性生活我是很清楚的。他身边压根就没有女人！”

“Well, let's have one more drink before we part，”said Gray.
“好的，大家再干一杯，然后各自准备去吃饭。”格雷说。

We had it and then I said good-bye to them. They came into the hall with me and while I was putting on my coat Isabel slipped her arm through Gray's and, nestling up to him, looked into his eyes with an expression that imitated very well the tenderness I had accused her of lacking.
我们举杯喝了酒，我向他们说了再见。小两口送我进门厅。我穿外套时，见伊莎贝尔挽起了格雷的胳膊，偎在他身上，望着他的眼睛，脸上露出我曾经指责她所缺乏的温柔表情。

“Tell me, Gray-frankly-do you think I'm hard-boiled?”
“格雷，请你坦率地告诉我，你是不是觉得我是个铁石心肠的人？”

“No, darling, far from it. Why, has anybody been saying you were?”
“不是，亲爱的，不沾边的话。怎么，难道有人这么说你吗？”

“No.”
“没有。”

She turned her head away so that he shouldn't see, and in a manner that Elliott would certainly have thought very unladylike put out her tongue at me.
她把头掉过去，使格雷看不见她的脸，朝我吐了吐舌头。这种样子，要是让艾略特看见，肯定会说她不像个有身份的人。

“It's not the same thing，”I murmured as I stepped out of the door and closed it behind me.
“那是两码事。”我胡乱支吾了一句，然后出了门，随手把门带上。