双语·《刀锋》 第七章 四

CHAPTER SEVEN 4
第七章 四

When I passed through Paris again the Maturins had gone and other people lived in Elliott's apartment. I missed Isabel.She was good to look at and easy to talk to.She was quick on the uptake and bore no malice.I have never seen her since.I am a poor and dilatory correspondent and Isabel was no letter writer.If she could not communicate with you by telephone or telegram she did not communicate with you.I had a Christmas card from her that Christmas with a pretty picture on it of a house with a Colonial portico surrounded by live oaks, which I took to be the house of the plantation that they had been unable to sell when they wanted the money and which now they were probably willing to keep.The postmark showed that it had been posted at Dallas, so I concluded that the deal had gone through satisfactorily and they were settled there.
当我再次路过巴黎时，马图林一家已经走了，艾略特的公寓房里有了新的住户。我还是蛮想念伊莎贝尔的——她有闭月羞花的容貌，又非常健谈。她善于体察人意，没有什么坏心眼。可惜我再也没有见过她。我不爱写信，也懒得写信，而伊莎贝尔则从不写信。如果不能给你通电话或发电报，那就会彻底跟你失掉联系。那年圣诞节，我倒是收到她一张贺卡，上面有张漂亮的照片，照的是一幢房屋，房屋的门廊是殖民地时期的，周围长着郁郁葱葱的橡树。这恐怕就是农场上的那幢房屋，他们缺钱时曾想卖卖不掉，现在大概准备留下来自家住了。邮戳表明贺卡是从达拉斯寄来的，由此可以断定那桩生意已经成功，他们已在达拉斯定居。

I have never been to Dallas, but I suppose that, like other American cities I know, it has a residential district within easy motoring distance of the business section and the country club where the affluent have fine houses in large gardens with a handsome view of hill or dale from the living-room windows. In such a district and in such a house, furnishedfrom cellar to attic in the latest mode by the most fashionable decorator in New York, Isabel certainly dwells.I can only hope that her Renoir, her flower piece by Manet, her landscape by Monet, and her Gauguin do not look too dated.The dining-room is doubtless of a convenient size for the women's luncheons which she gives at frequent intervals and at which the wine is good and the food superlative.Isabel learnt a great deal in Paris.She would not have settled on the house unless she had seen at a glance that the living-room would do very well for the sub-deb dances which it would be her pleasant duty to give as her daughters grew older.Joan and Priscilla must be now of a marriageable age.I am sure that they have been admirably brought up；they have been sent to the best schools and Isabel has taken care that they should acquire the accomplishments that must make them desirable in the eyes of eligible young men.Though I suppose Gray by now is still a little redder in the face, more jowly, balder, and a good deal heavier, I can't believe that Isabel has changed.She is still more beautiful than her daughters.The Maturins must be a great asset to the community and I have little doubt that they are as popular as they deserve to be.Isabel is entertaining, gracious, complaisant, and tactful；Gray, of course, is the quintessence of the Regular Guy.
我没去过达拉斯，但可以想象得来那儿跟美国其他的城市别无二致——从住宅区开车去商业中心和乡间俱乐部都很方便；富贵人家住豪宅，有大花园，从客厅窗户可望见风景优美的山丘或峡谷。伊莎贝尔肯定会住这样的小区，住这样的豪宅，从地窖到阁楼都是由纽约最时髦的屋内装饰师按照最时新的式样布置。我只希望她的那些画——雷诺阿的画、马奈的花卉、莫奈的风景以及高更的画，挂在她家墙上，不要显得太过时。餐厅无疑会不大不小，正适合伊莎贝尔隔三岔五请女友们来吃午饭，好酒好菜地招待她们。她在巴黎长了不少见识，一眼就可以看出客厅合不合适，客厅不如意她是不会住的。眼见两个女儿一天天长大，她还指望在客厅为女儿举办交际舞会呢——这可是为人母的一项惬意的职责。现在，琼和普里西拉恐怕已到了谈婚论嫁的年纪。她们姐妹肯定有令人钦羡的教养，上的是最好的学校；伊莎贝尔准会叫她们学习琴棋书画，让门当户对的小伙子们一见倾心。格雷想必脸色更红，心情更愉快，头更秃，体重也大大增加了。若说伊莎贝尔，我坚信不会有什么变化。她会依然光彩照人，美貌不输她的两个千金。马图林一家在社区里一定很有分量。我坚信，他们一定人缘好，颇受欢迎。伊莎贝尔风趣幽默、彬彬有礼、殷勤好客、识分寸知进退，而格雷出类拔萃，是人之佼佼者。