CHAPTER I

PRO AND CON

第一章 利与弊

Monsieur de Manerville, the father, was a worthy Norman gentleman, well known to the Marechael de Richelieu, who married him to one of the richest heiresses of Bordeaux in the days when the old duke reigned in Guienne as governor. The Norman then sold the estate he owned in Bessin, and became a Gascon, allured by the beauty of the chateau de Lanstrac, a delightful residence owned by his wife. During the last days of the reign of Louis XV., he bought the post of major of the Gate Guards, and lived till 1813, having by great good luck escaped the dangers of the Revolution in the following manner.

老德马内维尔先生是诺曼地区的一位受人尊重的贵族，与马雷夏尔·德黎塞留有很深的交情。老黎塞留公爵在吉耶纳做总督的时候，为德马内维尔做媒，让他娶了波尔多地区一位最富有的女继承人为妻。老德马内维尔的妻子在朗斯特拉克有一座庄园，庄园景色宜人，老德马内维尔被深深地吸引了，于是这个诺曼人将自己在贝桑地区的房产卖了，做起加斯科涅的居民来。在路易十五统治末期，他花钱买了个宫廷卫队副官的职位，后来又非常幸运地在法国大革命中以下面的方法逃过了一劫，一直活到了1813年。

Toward the close of the year, 1790, he went to Martinque, where his wife had interests, leaving the management of his property in Gascogne to an honest man, a notary's clerk, named Mathias, who was inclined to-or at any rate did-give into the new ideas. On his return the Comte de Manerville found his possessions intact and well-managed. This sound result was the fruit produced by grafting the Gascon on the Norman.

在1790年底，他去了马提尼克--他妻子在那里有些产业，并将加斯科涅的产业交由一位诚实的公证人去打理。这位名叫马蒂亚斯的公证人对新思想或多或少有些着迷。德马内维尔伯爵回来后，发现他的产业不仅完好无损，甚至还运营良好。这样的佳绩是加斯科涅人和诺曼人合作的结果。

Madame de Manerville died in 1810. Having learned the importance of worldly goods through the dissipations of his youth, and, giving them, like many another old man, a higher place than they really hold in life, Monsieur de Manerville became increasingly economical, miserly, and sordid. Without reflecting that the avarice of parents prepares the way for the prodigalities of children, he allowed almost nothing to his son, although that son was an only child.

德马内维尔夫人于1810年逝世。经历过年轻时大肆挥霍的生活，老德马内维尔先生明白钱财的重要性。像其他很多老头一样，他高估了钱财在实际生活中的作用，渐渐地变得十分节俭和吝啬，甚至视财如命。他似乎从没考虑过父母吝财儿挥霍的道理，他对自己的儿子也几乎一毛不拔，何况这还是他的独生儿子。

Paul de Manerville, coming home from the college of Vendome in 1810, lived under close paternal discipline for three years. The tyranny by which the old man of seventy oppressed his heir influenced, necessarily, a heart and a character which were not yet formed. Paul, the son, without lacking the physical courage which is vital in the air of Gascony, dared not struggle against his father, and consequently lost that faculty of resistance which begets moral courage. His thwarted feelings were driven to the depths of his heart, where they remained without expression; later, when he felt them to be out of harmony with the maxims of the world, he could only think rightly and act mistakenly. He was capable of fighting for a mere word or look, yet he trembled at the thought of dismissing a servant, -his timidity showing itself in those contests only which required a persistent will. Capable of doing great things to fly from persecution, he would never have prevented it by systematic opposition, nor have faced it with the steady employment of force of will. Timid in thought, bold in actions, he long preserved that inward simplicity which makes a man the dupe and the voluntary victim of things against which certain souls hesitate to revolt, preferring to endure them rather than complain. He was, in point of fact, imprisoned by his father's old mansion, for he had not enough money to consort with young men; he envied their pleasures while unable to share them.

保尔·德马内维尔1810年从旺多姆大学回到父亲身边，在父亲的严格管教下度过了三年时光。一个七十多岁的老人对自己的接班人实行的暴政，肯定会对他尚未成形的心灵和性格产生影响。在加斯科涅的空气中充斥的勇敢精神，保尔身上并不缺乏。但他不敢与父亲抗争，最终失去了能激发道义勇气的反抗力。他受到压抑的情感被驱逐到内心深处，久久得不到抒发。后来，当他感觉到自己的情感与人世间的准则不符合的时候，他成了一个仅仅在思想上正确、在行为上却会犯错误的人。为了一句话或一个眼神，他就可以和人动武。但是一想到要辞退一个家仆，他就会浑身颤抖--在那些需要顽强意志的斗争中，他的懦弱就会显露出来了。他本来具备做大事以逃脱迫害的能力，但是他既不曾有步骤、有计划地反抗过，也不曾坚持不懈地运用自己的意志力去面对。他是思想上的懦夫，却是行动上的莽夫。长久以来，他保持着内心的单纯，情愿在很多事情上吃亏上当。对于这些事情，那些优柔寡断、不敢反抗的人往往宁愿默默忍受，也不愿诉苦抱怨。事实上，他是父亲那古老宅院中的一个囚徒，因为他没有足够的钱和别的年轻人交往；他羡慕那些人的快乐，却无法分享。

The old gentleman took him every evening, in an old carriage drawn by ill-harnessed old horses, attended by ill-dressed old servants, to royalist houses, where he met a society composed of the relics of the parliamentary nobility and the martial nobility. 注：穿袍贵族不是世袭贵族，他们出身于资产阶级，用钱买到贵族头衔，又称 “新贵族” 。佩剑贵族是指行伍起家，世袭的贵族，又称 “旧贵族” 。These two nobilities coalescing after the Revolution, had now transformed themselves into a landed aristocracy. Crushed by the vast and swelling fortunes of the maritime cities, this Faubourg Saint-Germain of Bordeaux responded by lofty disdain to the sumptuous displays of commerce, government administrations, and the military. Too young to understand social distinctions and the necessities underlying the apparent assumption which they create, Paul was bored to death among these ancients, unaware that the connections of his youth would eventually secure to him that aristocratic preeminence which Frenchmen will forever desire.

这位老绅士每天晚上带着他儿子去拜访保皇党人的家。他们乘坐一辆旧马车，由几匹套着破烂马具的老马拉着。随行的老仆人衣衫不整。在那里，他会遇到穿袍贵族和佩剑贵族的遗老遗少。自大革命之后，这两派贵族联合起来，如今他们已经转变成拥有土地的贵族了。沿海大城市不断膨胀的财富将波尔多的圣日耳曼地区压得喘不过气来。对于当时商界、政界和军界的大肆铺张浪费，那里的人们表示不屑和蔑视。保尔还太年轻了，无法理解在他们创造的表象设想下潜藏的这些社会差异和必然的社会现象。他觉得呆在一群老古董中枯燥得要命。殊不知，正是他年轻时期建立的关系保证了他最终优越的贵族地位，而这正是法国人永恒的渴望。

He found some slight compensations for the dulness of these evenings in certain manual exercises which always delight young men, and which his father enjoined upon him. The old gentleman considered that to know the art of fencing and the use of arms, to ride well on horseback, to play tennis, to acquire good manners, -in short, to possess all the frivolous accomplishments of the old nobility, -made a young man of the present day a finished gentleman. Accordingly, Paul took a fencing-lesson every morning, went to the riding-school, and practised in a pistol-gallery. The rest of his time was spent in reading novels, for his father would never have allowed the more abstruse studies now considered necessary to finish an education.

在那些枯燥的晚间聚会上，他找到了些小小的补偿，那是年轻人喜欢的事情，也是他父亲命令他练就的一些本领。这位老绅士认为，在这个世道上，一个年轻人要成为一名完美的绅士，就必须通晓剑术，会用武器，马术精湛，会打网球，礼数周到--总而言之，就是要将老贵族那一套无聊琐碎的东西都学会。于是，保尔每天上午练习击剑，然后练骑术或者室内手枪射击。剩下的时间，他便用来阅读小说，因为他父亲从来就不认可那些在现在看来对教育必不可少的更深奥的学科。

So monotonous a life would soon have killed the poor youth if the death of the old man had not delivered him from this tyranny at the moment when it was becoming intolerable. Paul found himself in possession of considerable capital, accumulated by his father's avarice, together with landed estates in the best possible condition. But he now held Bordeaux in horror; neither did he like Lanstrac, where his father had taken him to spend the summers, employing his whole time from morning till night in hunting.

正当这种单调的生活变得越来越无法忍受的时候，他父亲离开了人世。父亲的去世代表着暴政的终结，否则说不定这种生活就会把这个可怜的年轻人给毁了。父亲死后，保尔继承了父亲守财奴般积攒下来的大量财产和打理得井井有条的土地庄园。但是他现在非常讨厌波尔多，也不喜欢朗斯特拉克，以前他父亲每年夏天就带着他从早到晚地在朗斯特拉克打猎。

As soon as the estate was fairly settled, the young heir, eager for enjoyment, bought consols with his capital, left the management of the landed property to old Mathias, his father's notary, and spent the next six years away from Bordeaux. At first he was attached to the French embassy at Naples; after that he was secretary of legation at Madrid, and then in London, -making in this way the tour of Europe.

财产的事情一妥善处理好，这个渴望享受的年轻继承人就用自己的资金买了公债，将土地庄园交由父亲的公证人老马蒂亚斯打理，自己到远离波尔多的一个地方呆了六年。起先他在法国驻那不勒斯的大使馆当差，之后又先后到马德里和伦敦的公使馆当秘书--就这样走遍了整个欧洲。

After seeing the world and life, after losing several illusions, after dissipating all the loose capital which his father had amassed, there came a time when, in order to continue his way of life, Paul was forced to draw upon the territorial revenues which his notary was laying by. At this critical moment, seized by one of the so-called virtuous impulses, he determined to leave Paris, return to Bordeaux, regulate his affairs, lead the life of a country gentleman at Lanstrac, improve his property, marry, and become, in the end, a deputy.

在经历了诸多世面以后，在失去了许多幻想以后，在他父亲留给他的闲散资金被他挥霍一空以后，有一段时间，为了继续过那种生活，他不得已动用了他的公证人靠不动产积攒起来的收入。就在这个关键时刻，他突然在一个所谓的良性冲动的推动下，决定离开巴黎，回到波尔多来打理自己的事务。他在朗斯特拉克开始了贵族生活，经营自己的地产，结婚成家，并最终当上了众议员。

Paul was a count; nobility was once more of matrimonial value; he could, and he ought to make a good marriage. While many women desire a title, many others like to marry a man to whom a knowledge of life is familiar. Now Paul had acquired, in exchange for the sum of seven hundred thousand francs squandered in six years, that possession, which cannot be bought and is practically of more value than gold and silver; a knowledge which exacts long study, probation, examinations, friends, enemies, acquaintances, certain manners, elegance of form and demeanor, a graceful and euphonious name, -a knowledge, moreover, which means many love-affairs, duels, bets lost on a race-course, disillusions, deceptions, annoyances, toils, and a vast variety of undigested pleasures. In short, he had become what is called elegant. But in spite of his mad extravagance he had never made himself a mere fashionable man. In the burlesque army of men of the world, the man of fashion holds the place of a marshal of France, the man of elegance is the equivalent of a lieutenant-general. Paul enjoyed his lesser reputation, of elegance, and knew well how to sustain it. His servants were well-dressed, his equipages were cited, his suppers had a certain vogue; in short, his bachelor establishment was counted among the seven or eight whose splendor equalled that of the finest houses in Paris.

保尔当时是伯爵；那时贵族的称号对婚姻有重大的作用；他能够而且应该有个好婚事。虽然许多女子渴望嫁一个拥有贵族头衔的男人，但是也有很多女子想嫁一个有生活阅历的男人。如今，保尔在六年的时间里挥霍掉了七十万法郎，终于得到了一个官职。这个职务是买不到的，其实际价值也是无法用金银来衡量的。这个官职要求从事这个职务的人要经过长期的学习、见习和各种考试，要有朋友，有敌人，有熟人，要举止得体、风度翩翩，名号也要优雅悦耳--而且，还要懂得人情世故，这就意味着各种风流韵事、决斗、赛马场上赌输，要有失望、欺骗、烦闷、辛苦，以及许许多多难以消受的各种享乐。总而言之，他终于成为了一名所谓的 “风雅之士” 。不过，即使他生活奢侈，也从来未能跻身时髦人士之列。在当时荒诞可笑的上层人群中，时髦人士就相当于法国的元帅，而风雅之士只不过是少将的级别而已。保尔享受着他风雅的小名气，也知道如何保持这个名声。他的仆人衣着不俗，他的随行马车也颇为人称道，他的晚宴也很有排场。总而言之，在巴黎家产能与大户人家相比的也就只有七八个人，而保尔的单身汉别墅就名列其中。

But-he had not caused the wretchedness of any woman; he gambled without losing; his luck was not notorious; he was far too upright to deceive or mislead any one, no matter who, even a wanton; never did he leave his billets-doux lying about, and he possessed no coffer or desk for love-letters which his friends were at liberty to read while he tied his cravat or trimmed his beard. Moreover, not willing to dip into his Guienne property, he had not that bold extravagance which leads to great strokes and calls attention at any cost to the proceedings of a young man. Neither did he borrow money, but he had the folly to lend to friends, who then deserted him and spoke of him no more either for good or evil. He seemed to have regulated his dissipations methodically. The secret of his character lay in his father's tyranny, which had made him, as it were, a social mongrel.

但是--他从来不招惹任何女人；他赌博从不输钱；他的好运也不是众人皆知；他为人太过正直，绝不会去欺骗或误导任何人，哪怕一个荡妇。他从来不把自己收到的情书乱摆乱放，也没有专门装此类信件的小盒子或是抽屉，以避免他的朋友一边等他系领带或刮胡子的时候，一边从小盒子里随意翻看那些信。另外，他不打算动用他在吉耶纳的地产，因此他没有年轻人那种用肆无忌惮的挥霍和浪费来引人注目的行为。他从不向人借账，却糊涂地把钱借给一些狐朋狗友。那些人后来不再搭理他，不再提及他，而且既不赞美他，也不诽谤他。这种杂乱的生活似乎是他特意规划出来的。他父亲以前对他的暴政是他养成这种性格的原因，而这种性格，在某种程度上，又使他成为了一个社会杂交品种。

So, one morning, he said to a friend named de Marsay, who afterwards became celebrated: - "My dear fellow, life has a meaning. "

于是有一天清晨，他对一个朋友说： “亲爱的伙计，生活总得有点儿意义吧。” 这位名叫德马尔赛的朋友后来成了一个名人。

"You must be twenty-seven years of age before you can find it out, " replied de Marsay, laughing.

“你至少得活到二十七岁才能找到生活的意义。” 马尔赛笑着答道。

"Well, I am twenty-seven; and precisely because I am twenty-seven I mean to live the life of a country gentleman at Lanstrac. I'll transport my belongings to Bordeaux into my father's old mansion, and I'll spend three months of the year in Paris in this house, which I shall keep. "

“瞧，我已经二十七岁，而且正因为我二十七岁了，我才打算到朗斯特拉克去过乡村贵族的生活。我想把东西搬到波尔多我父亲那所老房子里去。而这所房子我还是留着，每年我回巴黎在这里住三个月。”

"Will you marry? "

“你要结婚吗？”

"I will marry. "

“是呀，我要结婚。”

"I 'm your friend, as you know, my old Paul, " said de Marsay, after a moment's silence, and I say to you: settle down into a worthy father and husband and you'll be ridiculous for the rest of your days. If you could be happy and ridiculous, the thing might be thought of; but you will not be happy. You haven't a strong enough wrist to drive a household. I'll do you justice and say you are a perfect horseman; no one knows as well as you how to pick up or thrown down the reins, and make a horse prance, and sit firm to the saddle. But, my dear fellow, marriage is another thing. I see you now, led along at a slapping pace by Madame la Comtesse de Manerville, going whither you would not, oftener at a gallop than a trot, and presently unhorsed! -yes, unhorsed into a ditch and your legs broken. Listen to me. You still have some forty-odd thousand francs a year from your property in the Gironde. Good. Take your horses and servants and furnish your house in Bordeaux; you can be king of Bordeaux, you can promulgate there the edicts that we put forth in Paris; you can be the correspondent of our stupidities. Very good. Play the rake in the provinces; better still, commit follies; follies may win you celebrity. But-don't marry. Who marries nowadays? Only merchants, for the sake of their capital, or to be two to drag the cart; only peasants who want to produce children to work for them; only brokers and notaries who want a wife's' dot't o pay for their practice; only miserable kings who are forced to continue their miserable dynasties. But we are exempt from the pack, and you want to shoulder it! And why DO you want to marry? You ought to give your best friend your reasons. In the first place, if you marry an heiress as rich as yourself, eighty thousand francs a year for two is not the same thing as forty thousand francs a year for one, because the two are soon three or four when the children come. You haven't surely any love for that silly race of Manerville which would only hamper you? Are you ignorant of what a father and mother have to be? Marriage, my old Paul, is the silliest of all the social immolations; our children alone profit by it, and don't know its price until their horses are nibbling the flowers on our grave. Do you regret your father, that old tyrant who made your first years wretched? How can you be sure that your children will love you? The very care you take of their education, your precautions for their happiness, your necessary sternness will lessen their affection. Children love a weak or a prodigal father, whom they will despise in after years. You'll live betwixt fear and contempt. No man is a good head of a family merely because he wants to be. Look round on all our friends and name to me one whom you would like to have for a son. We have known a good many who dishonor their names. Children, my dear Paul, are the most difficult kind of merchandise to take care of. Yours, you think, will be angels; well, so be it! Have you ever sounded the gulf which lies between the lives of a bachelor and a married man? Listen. As a bachelor you can say to yourself: ' I shall never exhibit more than a certain amount of the ridiculous; the public will think of me what I choose it to think. 'Married, you'll drop into the infinitude of the ridiculous! Bachelor, you can make your own happiness; you enjoy some today, you do without it tomorrow; married, you must take it as it comes; and the day you want it you will have to go without it. Marry, and you'll grow a blockhead; you'll calculate dowries; you'll talk morality, public and religious; you'll think young men immoral and dangerous; in short, you'll become a social academician. ？It's pitiable! The old bachelor whose property the heirs are waiting for, who fights to his last breath with his nurse for a spoonful of drink, is blest in comparison with a married man. I' m not speaking of all that will happen to annoy, bore, irritate, coerce, oppose, tyrannize, narcotize, paralyze, and idiotize a man in marriage, in that struggle of two beings always in one another's presence, bound forever, who have coupled each other under the strange impression that they were suited. No, to tell you those things would be merely a repetition of Boileau, and we know him by heart. Still, I'll forgive your absurd idea if you will promise me to marryen grand seigneur; to entail your property; to have two legitimate children, to give your wife a house and household absolutely distinct from yours; to meet her only in society, and never to return from a journey without sending her a courier to announce it. Two hundred thousand francs a year will suffice for such a life and your antecedents will enable you to marry some rich English woman hungry for a title. That's an aristocratic life which seems to me thoroughly French; the only life in which we can retain the respect and friendship of a woman; the only life which distinguishes a man from the present crowd, -in short, the only life for which a young man should even think of resigning his bachelor blessings. Thus established, the Comte de Manerville may advise his epoch, place himself above the world, and be nothing less than a minister or an ambassador. Ridicule can never touch him; he has gained the social advantages of marriage while keeping all the privileges of a bachelor.

“我是你的朋友，你知道的，我的老伙计保尔，” 德马尔赛沉默了一会儿说道， “我跟你说，你要是想安顿下来做一个好父亲、好丈夫的话，这辈子你肯定就成了别人的笑柄。如果你被人笑话，却能够幸福也就罢了，问题是你不会幸福的。你没有足以驾驭一个家庭的强有力的手腕。为你说句公道话：你是个完美的骑手；如何放送缰绳，如何拉紧缰绳，牢牢地驾驭一匹马，没人比你更在行了。但是我亲爱的兄弟，婚姻却是另外一码子事。依我看来，你会被德马内维尔伯爵夫人牵着鼻子走，即使不愿意也得快步前行，时常是飞奔而不是迈着小碎步，不一会儿就会坠下马来--是的，从马背上坠下来跌进阴沟，摔断你的双腿。听我的话。你在吉伦特河的产业每年会给你带来四万多法郎的收入。这很好。带上你的马匹和仆人，给你在波尔多的房子配上家具，你就是波尔多的国王了。你可以在那里颁布我们在巴黎实行的法令，把我们的那些蠢事传播出去。这非常好。你在外省纵情酒色，甚至有更蠢的行为，这都没关系，蠢事或许能让你成为一个名人。但是--不要结婚。今日的社会，有谁还去结婚呢？要么是商人，想扩充资本，或是想双双拉货有干劲；要么是农民，想多生几个孩子帮忙干活；要么是经纪人或公证人想要妻子的 “嫁妆” 来一起出钱买个职务；要么是那可怜的国王，要传宗接代来延续他们可怜的王朝。但是，我们没必要去钻这个套，你竟然要去趟这浑水！为什么你要去结婚呢？你应该把你的理由给你最好的朋友讲一讲。首先，如果你娶一个像你一样富有的女继承人，两个人每年八万法郎的收入可并不等于一个人四万法郎。因为生了孩子后，马上会变成三个人，四个人。你确定会爱上这个只会束缚你的愚蠢的德马内维尔家族吗？为人父母意味着什么，你难道一无所知吗？我的老保尔啊，婚姻是现在社会最愚蠢的自我牺牲。只有我们的子女能从中获利，只有等到他们的马儿啃着我们坟头的花儿，他们才会明白婚姻的代价。你哀思你的父亲吗？这个糟蹋了你的青春年华的暴君。你如何做才能确保你的儿女爱你呢？你为他们的教育操心，为他们的幸福铺路，你在必要的时候态度严厉，却会减少他们对你的好感。小孩们喜欢管教不严或花钱慷慨的父亲，后来他们又瞧不起这样的父亲。你会活在担心与藐视的夹缝中。一家之主不是想当好就能当好的。看看我们身边的朋友，告诉我，你希望哪一个做你的儿子。我们甚至见过不少子女使家门蒙羞。我亲爱的保尔，子女好比是最难看管的商品。你认为你的孩子会是天使。那好，就算是吧！你可曾听说过，单身汉与已婚男人的生活之间有条多么深的沟壑？听我说。作为一个单身汉，你可以对自己说： “发生在我身上的可笑的事也就那么一些，我不会再出丑了。别人怎么看我在于我自己的想法。” 一旦结婚了，你就会陷入无限的可笑境地！作为一个单身汉，你的幸快乐掌握在自己手中，今天愿意享乐就享乐，明日没有它也可以。可如果你结婚了，就不能随心所欲了，快乐来了就必须接受，而哪天等你想要的时候，没有它你也得将就。如果结婚了，你就会变成一个蠢蛋，你会开始计算你的彩礼，你会开始与人谈论道德、公众利益和宗教信仰，你会认为年轻人毫无道德感而且十分危险。总而言之，你将会成为一个社会学者。真可悲！一个老光棍在临断气前挣扎着却喝不下女看护喂的一勺水，一边还有人等着继承他的遗产。可是比起已婚男人，他可要幸福得多。我就不列举所有在婚姻中还会发生的那些惹人心烦、令人无聊、让人烦躁、控制人、压迫人、迷惑人、让人麻木瘫痪的事情了。在婚姻的围城中挣扎的两个人朝夕相对，命运永远相连。他们有这样古怪的念头，自以为彼此相配。不说了，布瓦洛的话就不用再重复了，我们早就熟记于心。但是，你要是答应我下面的成姻方式，我就原谅你那荒唐的想法： “俨如王侯” 地成婚；把你的财产限定继承；生两个法律意义上的子女，给你妻子留一栋房子，而且与你的房子完全分离；只在外出交际的时候才带上她，并且每次从外面旅行回来时提前寄信通知她。每年只要两万法郎就足够过上这样的生活。加上你的生活经历，就可以去娶一个渴望得到贵族头衔的富裕的英国女子。这种生活对于我来说才是真正的法国生活方式，是唯一可以得到一个女性尊重和友谊的生活，也是唯一把我们与普通大众区分开来的生活--总之，只有为了这样的生活，年轻人才应该放弃他的单身福祉。只有这样，德马内维尔伯爵才能为这个时代作出表率，超越凡人，至少也能当个内阁部长或驻外大使之类的。他不会被别人所笑话，既得到了婚姻所带来的社会利益，又享受了单身的特权。”

"But, my good friend, I am not de Marsay; I am plainly, as you yourself do me the honor to say, Paul de Manerville, worthy father and husband, deputy of the Centre, possibly peer of France, -a destiny extremely commonplace; but I am modest and I resign myself. "

“可是，好伙计，我不是德马尔赛。正如你费心对我所说的这番话，我只不过是保尔·德马内维尔，一个好父亲和好丈夫，中间派议员，还可能是法国的贵族议员--非常普通的命运，但我本性谦恭，我听从命运的安排。”

"Yes, but your wife, " said the pitiless de Marsay, "will she resign herself? "

“好吧，那你的妻子呢？” 德马尔赛不留情面地说道， “她会听天由命吗？”

"My wife, my dear fellow, will do as I wish. "

“我亲爱的老弟，我的妻子嘛，当然要听我的。”

"Ah! my poor friend, is that where you are? Adieu, Paul. Henceforth, I refuse to respect you. One word more, however, for I cannot agree coldly to your abdication. Look and see in what the strength of our position lies. A bachelor with only six thousand francs a year remaining to him has at least his reputation for elegance and the memory of success. Well, even that fantastic shadow has enormous value in it. Life still offers many chances to the unmarried man. Yes, he can aim at anything. But marriage, Paul, is the social 'Thus far shalt thou go and no farther. ' Once married you can never be anything but what you then are-unless your wife should deign to care for you. "

“哈哈！可怜的家伙，你还是原来的立场吗？别了，保尔。从此以后，我不再敬重你了。再多说一句，因为我无法冷漠地看着你自我放弃。好好看看，我们能有这样的地位，其力量源自哪里。一个单身汉，即使每年只有六千法郎的收入，到最后至少还有优雅的名声和成功的回忆。哎，即使那个神奇的阴影仍然具有巨大的价值。对一个单身汉来说，生活还有很多机会。是的，他还可以有目标。但是，保尔，婚姻将会让你在社会上 ‘止步于此，前行无路’ 。一旦结婚了，你就不再会取得什么成就--除非你的妻子屈尊支持你。”

"But, " said Paul, "you are crushing me down with exceptional theories. I am tired of living for others; of having horses merely to exhibit them; of doing all things for the sake of what may be said of them; of wasting my substance to keep fools from crying out: 'Dear, dear! Paul is still driving the same carriage. What has he done with his fortune? Does he squander it? Does he gamble at the Bourse? No, he's a millionaire. Madame such a one is mad about him. He sent to England for a harness which is certainly the handsomest in all Paris. The four-horse equipages of Messieurs de Marsay and de Manerville were much noticed at Longchamps; the harness was perfect’ -in short, the thousand silly things with which a crowd of idiots lead us by the nose. "

“但是，” 保尔说道， “你总是用与众不同的理论来压倒我。我厌烦了为别人而活；厌烦了骑马只是为了炫耀马匹；厌烦了做所有的事情都是为了别人怎么看你；厌烦了浪费家财只是为了不让那些傻瓜大喊： ‘哎呀，哎呀！保尔总是坐一辆马车。他的钱到哪儿去了？是不是都挥霍掉了？他是不是到交易所赌博去了？不会啊，他可是个百万富翁。某某夫人对他非常着迷呢。他从英国运来的马车设备肯定是全巴黎最豪华的。德马尔赛和德马内维尔先生的那辆四头马拉的马车在长野跑马车可是出尽了风头；他们的马具真是完美至极’ --总之，我们就被一群蠢人的蠢话牵着鼻子走。”

"Believe me, my dear Henri, I admire your power, but I don't envy it. You know how to judge of life; you think and act as a statesman; you are able to place yourself above all ordinary laws, received ideas, adopted conventions, and acknowledged prejudices; in short, you can grasp the profits of a situation in which I should find nothing but ill-luck. Your cool, systematic, possibly true deductions are, to the eyes of the masses, shockingly immoral. I belong to the masses. I must play my game of life according to the rules of the society in which I am forced to live. While putting yourself above all human things on peaks of ice, you still have feelings; but as for me, I should freeze to death. The life of that great majority, to which I belong in my commonplace way, is made up of emotions of which I now have need. Often a man coquets with a dozen women and obtains none. Then, whatever be his strength, his cleverness, his knowledge of the world, he undergoes convulsions, in which he is crushed as between two gates. For my part, I like the peaceful chances and changes of life; I want that wholesome existence in which we find a woman always at our side. "

“相信我，我亲爱的亨利，我很欣赏你的力量，但是我并不羡慕。你知道怎样决断人生；你像政治家一样思考和行动；你超脱于一般法典之上，超脱陈规旧律和繁文缛节、以及一切固执偏见；总之，你总能从某种处境下获利不少，换作我则厄运连连。你的推断冷静而有条理，可能也很正确，但是在大众眼里，却极度不道德。而我就是平民大众。既然生活在这个社会中，我就不得不按社会的规则来行事。你超脱于凡尘俗事，处于那冰雪之巅，仍能找到一些寄托。但若是换作我，我非冻死不可。我普通的人生与大部分人的生活一样，由感情组成。而这种感情，也正是我现在所需要的。一个男人经常与一打女人调情，最终却一无所获。无论他力量多强，头脑多聪明，知识多么丰富，他也会遇到困境，犹如被两扇门夹在当中。对于我来说，我喜欢波澜不惊的生活，我想要那种健康的生活，有个女人总是陪伴在我左右。”

"A trifle indecorous, your marriage! " exclaimed de Marsay.

“太轻率了，你的婚姻！” 德马尔赛大声说道。

Paul was not to be put out of countenance, and continued: "Laugh if you like; I shall feel myself a happy man when my valet enters my room in the morning and says: 'Madame is awaiting monsieur for breakfast'; happier still at night, when I return to find a heart-"

保尔面不改色地继续说下去： “你想笑我就笑吧。将来我的男仆走进房间说： ‘夫人正等着您用早餐。’ 那时我将感觉自己是一个幸福的男人。更幸福的是，晚上回到家，我还能找到一颗心--”

"Altogether indecorous, my dear Paul. You are not yet moral enough to marry. "

“亲爱的保尔，这实在是太轻率了。你还没为婚姻做好充足的思想准备。”

"-a heart in which to confide my interests and my secrets. I wish to live in such close union with a woman that our affection shall not depend upon a yes or a no, or be open to the disillusions of love. In short, I have the necessary courage to become, as you say, a worthy husband and father. I feel myself fitted for family joys; I wish to put myself under the conditions prescribed by society; I desire to have a wife and children. "

“--一颗心，我可以向其倾诉自己的兴趣和秘密。我希望能和一个女子心心相印，彼此间的感情不会被一句简单的 ‘行’ 或 ‘不行’ 所影响，更不会带来爱情幻灭的结局。总之，我有必要的勇气成为你说的那种好丈夫、好父亲。我觉得自己适合那种家庭的天伦之乐；我愿意去创造社会所要求的条件；我想过妻儿绕膝的生活。”

"You remind me of a hive of honey-bees! But go your way, you'll be a dupe all your life. Ha, ha! you wish to marry to have a wife! In other words, you wish to solve satisfactorily to your own profit the most difficult problem invented by those bourgeois morals which were created by the French Revolution; and, what is more, you mean to begin your attempt by a life of retirement. Do you think your wife won't crave the life you say you despise? Will she be disgusted with it, as you are? If you won't accept the noble conjugality just formulated for your benefit by your friend de Marsay, listen, at any rate, to his final advice. Remain a bachelor for the next thirteen years; amuse yourself like a lost soul; then, at forty, on your first attack of gout, marry a widow of thirty-six. Then you may possibly be happy. If you now take a young girl to wife, you'll die a madman. "

“你使我想起了一窝嗡嗡叫的蜜蜂！可是你这样走下去的话，迟早要一辈子都亏在上面的。哈哈！你结婚的目的就只是找个妻子而已。换句话说，法国大革命所创造的资产阶级道德造成了最大的问题，你希望能满意地解决它并从中获利。而且，你还希望能过上与世无争的生活来开始这一切。你妻子难道就不会渴望你所瞧不起的那种生活？她也会如同你一样厌恶那种生活吗？你的朋友马尔赛为你着想提出的这个完美婚姻方式，如果你不愿接受，那么，无论如何，请听最后一条建议。再过十三年单身生活吧，纵情忘我地大玩一场。然后，到了四十岁，当你第一次痛风发作的时候，娶一个三十六的寡妇。那样你也许会幸福的。如果你现在跟一个年轻女孩结婚，你肯定要发疯致死的。”

"Ah ca! Tell me why! " cried Paul, somewhat piqued.

“啊哈！那告诉为什么！” 保尔有点烦躁，高声说道。

"My dear fellow, " replied de Marsay, "Boileau's satire against women is a tissue of poetical commonplaces. Why shouldn't women have defects? Why condemn them for having the most obvious thing in human nature? To my mind, the problem of marriage is not at all at the point where Boileau puts it. Do you suppose that marriage is the same thing as love, and that being a man suffices to make a wife love you? Have you gathered nothing in your boudoir experience but pleasant memories? I tell you that everything in our bachelor life leads to fatal errors in the married man unless he is a profound observer of the human heart. In the happy days of his youth a man, by the caprice of our customs, is always lucky; he triumphs over women who are all ready to be triumphed over and who obey their own desires. One thing after another-the obstacles created by the laws, the sentiments and natural defences of women-all engender a mutuality of sensations which deceives superficial persons as to their future relations in marriage, where obstacles no longer exist, where the wife submits to love instead of permitting it, and frequently repulses pleasure instead of desiring it. Then, the whole aspect of a man's life changes. The bachelor, who is free and without a care, need never fear repulsion; in marriage, repulsion is almost certain and irreparable. It may be possible for a lover to make a woman reverse an unfavorable decision, but such a change, my dear Paul, is the Waterloo of husbands. Like Napoleon, the husband is thenceforth condemned to victories which, in spite of their number, do not prevent the first defeat from crushing him. The woman, so flattered by the perseverance, so delighted with the ardor of a lover, calls the same things brutality in a husband. You, who talk of marrying, and who will marry, have you ever meditated on the Civil Code? I myself have never muddied my feet in that hovel of commentators, that garret of gossip, called the Law-school. I have never so much as opened the Code; but I see its application on the vitals of society. The Code, my dear Paul, makes woman a ward; it considers her a child, a minor. Now how must we govern children? By fear. In that one word, Paul, is the curb of the beast. Now, feel your own pulse! Have you the strength to play the tyrant, -you, so gentle, so kind a friend, so confiding; you, at whom I have laughed, but whom I love, and love enough to reveal to you my science? For this is science. Yes, it proceeds from a science which the Germans are already calling Anthropology. Ah! if I had not already solved the mystery of life by pleasure, if I had not a profound antipathy for those who think instead of act, if I did not despise the ninnies who are silly enough to believe in the truth of a book, when the sands of the African deserts are made of the ashes of I know not how many unknown and pulverized Londons, Romes, Venices, and Parises, I would write a book on modern marriages made under the influence of the Christian system, and I'd stick a lantern on that heap of sharp stones among which lie the votaries of the social 'multiplicamini. ' But the question is, Does humanity require even an hour of my time? And besides, isn't the more reasonable use of ink that of snaring hearts by writing love-letters? -Well, shall you bring the Comtesse de Manerville here, and let us see her? "

“亲爱的伙计，” 德马尔赛答道， “布瓦洛对女人的讽刺诗也只是人云亦云。为什么女性就没有缺陷呢？为什么仅仅因为她们拥有人类最普通的天性就谴责她们呢？依我来看，布瓦洛根本没有看到婚姻问题的真谛。难道你认为婚姻就是爱情，做一个男人就足以让妻子爱他吗？难道从女子的闺房中带来的就只有愉悦的回忆吗？我跟你说，我们单身生活中的一切都会导致男人婚后犯下致命的错误，除非他对人心有着深刻的洞察。由于我们奇异的风俗，一个处于无忧无虑青春年华的男子总是幸运的。他能捕获那些自愿被征服以及追随自我欲望的女子的心。一桩接一桩的事情--法律带来的阻碍，女人的感情和天生的提防心理--都会使双方产生类似的感受，使那些肤浅的人们会对他们未来的婚姻关系产生错觉，以为在婚姻中，障碍不复存在，女子屈从于爱情而不是纵容爱情，要频繁地拒绝欢愉，而不是向往。那时，对于一个男人来说，生活就全变了样。单身汉无拘无束、无忧无虑，永远都无需害怕被拒绝。然而在婚姻中，嫌弃是注定的，并且无法修复。也许一个情人可以使女人回心转意，但是这样的转变，我亲爱的保尔，对一个丈夫来说就如同兵败滑铁卢。就像拿破仑一样，丈夫从此就注定获胜，但尽管获胜无数，可第一次失败就能彻底将他打垮。情人的穷追猛打会使女人感到受宠若惊，情人的热情奔放会使女人心花怒放。但是如果丈夫也这么做，女人就称为野蛮。你谈论着结婚，也准备去结婚，你可曾思考过《民事法典》？我本人从未染指那个叫 “法律学校” --那个评论员汇集的茅舍，那个流言蜚语的阁楼。我是从来没有打开过《民事法典》这本书，但是我看见过它在社会上的应用。我亲爱的保尔，这部法律专门保护女人的；它将女人视为孩童，视为未成年人。那现在我们怎么管制小孩呢？吓唬他们。这个词语，保尔，是限制牲口的意思。现在，摸摸你自己的脉搏！你拥有做一个暴君的力量吗？--你为人温顺和蔼，平易近人，容易相信别人。我刚才嘲笑你，但是我也很喜欢你，所以我要把我的学识都传授给你。因为这就是一门学问。是的，它源于一门学问，德国人早已把它称之为 ‘人类学’ 。啊！如果我没有用享乐来解决生活中的谜题，如果我不是非常反感那些只动脑不动手的人，如果我不是藐视那些只相信书本上的真理的呆子，那么，等到无数未知的伦敦城、罗马城、威尼斯城和巴黎城坍塌成灰，变成非洲沙漠中的沙子时，我也会写一本书，谈谈基督教对现代婚姻的影响。我会在那尖利的石头堆上挂一盏灯，让那些相信社会 ‘繁衍生息’ 的信徒们躺在石堆上。但是问题在于：人性问题是否值得我为此花上哪怕是一个小时的时间呢？再说，难道用墨汁来写情书以打动人心不是更合乎情理吗？--噢，对了，你会把德马内维尔伯爵夫人带来给我们瞧瞧吧？”

"Perhaps, " said Paul.

“也许吧。” 保尔答道。

"We shall still be friends, " said de Marsay.

“我们永远都是朋友！” 德马尔赛说道。

"If-" replied Paul.

“要是--” 保尔回答道。

"Don't be uneasy; we will treat you politely, as Maison-Rouge treated the English at Fontenoy. "

“放心！我们会友善地对待你们的，就像法国皇家部队在丰特努瓦对英国人那样。”