雙語小說連載:純真年代 The Age of Innocence(8)

It was generally agreed in New York that the Countess Olenska had "lost her looks."
在紐約，人們普遍認爲奧蘭斯卡伯爵夫人“紅顏已衰”。

She had appeared there first, in Newland Archer's boyhood, as a brilliantly pretty little girl of nine or ten, of whom people said that she "ought to be painted." Her parents had been continental wanderers, and after a roaming babyhood she had lost them both, and been taken in charge by her aunt, Medora Manson, also a wanderer, who was herself returning to New York to "settle down."
她在紐蘭·阿切爾童年時期第一次在這裏露面，那時她是個光彩照人的漂亮小姑娘，9到10歲的樣子。人們說她“應該讓人畫像”。她的父母是歐洲大陸的漫遊客，經過幼年的漂泊之後，她失去了雙親，被姑媽梅多拉·曼森收養。她也是位漫遊客，剛剛要回紐約“定居”。

Poor Medora, repeatedly widowed, was always coming home to settle down (each time in a less expensive house), and bringing with her a new husband or an adopted child; but after a few months she invariably parted from her husband or quarrelled with her ward, and, having got rid of her house at a loss, set out again on her wanderings. As her mother had been a Rushworth, and her last unhappy marriage had linked her to one of the crazy Chiverses, New York looked indulgently on her eccentricities; but when she returned with her little orphaned niece, whose parents had been popular in spite of their regrettable taste for travel, people thought it a pity that the pretty child should be in such hands.
可憐的梅多拉一再成爲寡婦，經常回來定居（每一次回來住房的檔次都要降低一點），並帶着一位新丈夫或者新收養的孩子。然而幾個月之後，她又總是與丈夫分道揚鐮或者與被監護人鬧翻，賠本賣掉房子，又動身出去漫遊。由於她母親原姓拉什沃斯，而最後一次的不幸婚姻又把她與瘋癲的奇弗斯家族的一個成員聯在一起，所以紐約人都十分寬容地看待她的偏執行爲。不過，當她帶着成了孤兒的小侄女回來的時候，人們還是覺得把那個美麗的小姑娘託付給這樣的人很可惜。孩子的父母儘管因愛好旅遊令人遺憾，生前卻頗有人望。

Every one was disposed to be kind to little Ellen Mingott, though her dusky red cheeks and tight curls gave her an air of gaiety that seemed unsuitable in a child who should still have been in black for her parents. It was one of the misguided Medora's many peculiarities to flout the unalterable rules that regulated American mourning, and when she stepped from the steamer her family were scandalised to see that the crape veil she wore for her own brother was seven inches shorter than those of her sisters-in-law, while little Ellen was in crimson merino and amber beads, like a gipsy foundling.
人人都對小埃倫·明戈特懷有善意，儘管她那黑黝黝的紅臉蛋與密實的髭發使她顯得神情愉快，看起來與一個仍在爲父母服喪的孩子很不相稱。輕視美國人哀悼活動的那些不容改變的規矩，是梅多拉錯誤的怪癖之一。當她從輪船上出來的時候，家人們見她爲其兄戴的黑紗比嫂嫂的短了7英寸，而小埃倫居然穿着深紅色美利奴呢，戴着琥珀色珍珠項鍊，像個吉卜賽棄兒一樣，大家都極爲震驚。

But New York had so long resigned itself to Medora that only a few old ladies shook their heads over Ellen's gaudy clothes, while her other relations fell under the charm of her high colour and high spirits. She was a fearless and familiar little thing, who asked disconcerting questions, made precocious comments, and possessed outlandish arts, such as dancing a Spanish shawl dance and singing Neapolitan love-songs to a guitar. Under the direction of her aunt (whose real name was Mrs. Thorley Chivers, but who, having received a Papal title, had resumed her first husband's patronymic, and called herself the Marchioness Manson, because in Italy she could turn it into Manzoni) the little girl received an expensive but incoherent education, which included "drawing from the model," a thing never dreamed of before, and playing the piano in quintets with professional musicians.
然而紐約早已對梅多拉聽之任之，只有幾位老夫人對埃倫花哨俗氣的穿着搖搖頭，而另外的親屬卻被她紅撲撲的臉色與勃勃生氣征服了。她是個大膽的、無拘無束的小姑娘，愛問些不相宜的問題，發表早熟的議論，且掌握一些域外的藝術形式，比如跳西班牙披肩舞，伴着吉他唱那不勒斯情歌。在姑媽（她的真名是索利· 奇弗斯太太，但她接受教皇所授爵位後恢復了第一任丈夫的姓，自稱曼森侯爵夫人，因爲在意大利這個姓可以改爲曼佐尼）指導下，小姑娘接受的教育雖開支昂貴卻很不連貫，其中包括以前做夢都想不到的“照模特的樣子畫像”，與職業樂師一起彈鋼琴五重奏。

Of course no good could come of this; and when, a few years later, poor Chivers finally died in a mad- house, his widow (draped in strange weeds) again pulled up stakes and departed with Ellen, who had grown into a tall bony girl with conspicuous eyes. For some time no more was heard of them; then news came of Ellen's marriage to an immensely rich Polish nobleman of legendary fame, whom she had met at a ball at the Tuileries, and who was said to have princely establishments in Paris, Nice and Florence, a yacht at Cowes, and many square miles of shooting in Transylvania. She disappeared in a kind of sulphurous apotheosis, and when a few years later Medora again came back to New York, subdued, impoverished, mourning a third husband, and in quest of a still smaller house, people wondered that her rich niece had not been able to do something for her. Then came the news that Ellen's own marriage had ended in disaster, and that she was herself returning home to seek rest and oblivion among her kinsfolk.
這樣的教育當然是無益的。幾年之後，可憐的奇弗斯終於死在瘋人院裏，他的遺孀（穿着奇特的喪服）又一次收攤搬家，帶着埃倫走了。這時埃倫已長成一個又高又瘦的大姑娘，兩隻眼睛分外引人注意。有一段時間她們音訊全無，後來消息傳來，說埃倫嫁給了在杜伊勒利宮舞會上認識的一位富有傳奇色彩的波蘭貴族富翁，據說他在巴黎、尼斯和佛羅倫薩都擁有豪華住宅，在考斯有一艘遊艇，在特蘭西瓦尼亞還有許多平方英里的獵場。正當人們說得沸沸揚揚之時，她卻突然銷聲匿跡了。又過了幾年，梅多拉爲第三位丈夫服着喪，又一次窮困潦倒地回到紐約，尋找一所更小的房子。這時，人們不禁納悶，她那富有的侄女怎麼不伸出手來幫幫她。後來又傳來了埃倫本人婚姻不幸終結的消息，她自己也要回家，到親屬中求得安息與忘卻。

These things passed through Newland Archer's mind a week later as he watched the Countess Olenska enter the van der Luyden drawing-room on the evening of the momentous dinner. The occasion was a solemn one, and he wondered a little nervously how she would carry it off. She came rather late, one hand still ungloved, and fastening a bracelet about her wrist; yet she entered without any appearance of haste or embarrassment the drawing-room in which New York's most chosen company was somewhat awfully assembled.
一週之後，在那次重大宴會的晚上，紐蘭·阿切爾看着奧蘭斯卡伯爵夫人走進範德盧頓太太的客廳時，想起了這些往事。這是個難得見的場合，他心情有點緊張，擔心她將怎樣應付。她到得很晚，一隻手還未戴手套，正在扣着腕上的手鐲，然而她走進彙集了紐約大多數精英的客廳時，並沒有流露絲毫的匆忙與窘迫。

In the middle of the room she paused, looking about her with a grave mouth and smiling eyes; and in that instant Newland Archer rejected the general verdict on her looks. It was true that her early radiance was gone. The red cheeks had paled; she was thin, worn, a little older-looking than her age, which must have been nearly thirty. But there was about her the mysterious authority of beauty, a sureness in the carriage of the head, the movement of the eyes, which, without being in the least theatrical, struck his as highly trained and full of a conscious power. At the same time she was simpler in manner than most of the ladies present, and many people (as he heard afterward from Janey) were disappointed that her appearance was not more "stylish" --for stylishness was what New York most valued. It was, perhaps, Archer reflected, because her early vivacity had disappeared; because she was so quiet--quiet in her movements, her voice, and the tones of her low- pitched voice. New York had expected something a good deal more reasonant in a young woman with such a history.
她在客廳中間停住腳步，抿着嘴，兩眼含笑地打量着四周。就在這一瞬間，紐蘭·阿切爾否定了有關她的容貌的普遍看法。不錯，她早年的那種光彩的確已經不見了，那紅撲撲的面頰已變成蒼白色。她瘦削、憔。淬，看上去比她的年齡稍顯老相——她一定快30歲了。然而她身上卻散發着一種美的神祕力量，在她毫無做作的舉目顧盼之間有一種自信，他覺得那是經過高度訓練養成的，並且充滿一種自覺的力量。同時，她的舉止比在場的大多數夫人小姐都純樸，許多人（他事後聽詹尼說）對她打扮得不夠“時新”感到失望——因爲 “時新”是紐約人最看重的東西。阿切爾沉思，也許是因爲她早年的活力已經消失了，她才這樣異常地沉靜——她的動作、聲音、低聲細氣的語調都異常沉靜。紐約人本指望有着這樣一段歷史的年輕女子聲音會是十分洪亮的。

The dinner was a somewhat formidable business. Dining with the van der Luydens was at best no light matter, and dining there with a Duke who was their cousin was almost a religious solemnity. It pleased Archer to think that only an old New Yorker could perceive the shade of difference (to New York) between being merely a Duke and being the van der Luydens' Duke. New York took stray noblemen calmly, and even (except in the Struthers set) with a certain distrustful hauteur; but when they presented such credentials as these they were received with an old-fashioned cordiality that they would have been greatly mistaken in ascribing solely to their standing in Debrett. It was for just such distinctions that the young man cherished his old New York even while he smiled at it.
宴會有點令人提心吊膽。和範德盧頓夫婦一起用餐，本來就不是件輕鬆事，而與他們一位公爵表親一起用餐，更不啻是履行一種宗教儀式了。阿切爾愉快地想道，只有一個老紐約，才能看出一位普通公爵與範德盧頓家的公爵之間的細微差異（對紐約而言）。紐約人根本不把到處飄泊的貴族放在眼裏，對他們甚至還帶有幾分不信任的傲慢（斯特拉瑟斯那夥人除外）；但是，當他們證明自己和範德盧頓這樣的家族有某種關係之後，便能受到老式的真誠熱情的接待，這往往使他們大錯特錯地把這種接待完全歸功於自己在《德布利特貴族年鑑》中的地位。正是由於這種差別，年輕人即使在嘲笑他的老紐約的時候依然懷念它。

The van der Luydens had done their best to emphasise the importance of the occasion. The du Lac Sevres and the Trevenna George II plate were out; so was the van der Luyden "Lowestoft" (East India Company) and the Dagonet Crown Derby. Mrs. van der Luyden looked more than ever like a Cabanel, and Mrs. Archer, in her grandmother's seed-pearls and emeralds, reminded her son of an Isabey miniature. All the ladies had on their handsomest jewels, but it was characteristic of the house and the occasion that these were mostly in rather heavy old-fashioned settings; and old Miss Lanning, who had been persuaded to come, actually wore her mother's cameos and a Spanish blonde shawl.
範德盧頓夫婦竭盡全力突出這次宴會的重要性。他們把杜拉克·塞沃爾與特利文納·喬治二世的鍍金餐具拿了出來。範德盧頓太太看起來比任何時候都更像一幅卡巴內爾的畫像，而阿切爾太太佩戴着她祖母的米珠項鍊和綠寶石，讓她兒子不由得想起了伊莎貝的微型畫像。所有的夫人小姐都戴着她們最漂亮的首飾，不過她們的首飾大部分鑲嵌得特別老式，成了這所住宅與這一場合獨有的特點；被勸來的拉寧小姐戴的是她母親的浮雕玉，還披了件亞麻色的西班牙披肩。

The Countess Olenska was the only young woman at the dinner; yet, as Archer scanned the smooth plump elderly faces between their diamond necklaces and towering ostrich feathers, they struck him as curiously immature compared with hers. It frightened him to think what must have gone to the making of her eyes.
奧蘭斯卡伯爵夫人是宴會上惟一的年輕女子，然而在阿切爾細細端詳那些鑽石項鍊與高聳的駝鳥翎毛中間光滑豐滿的老年人的臉龐時，令他感到奇怪的是，她們競顯得不及她成熟。想到造就她那副眼神所付的代價，他不覺有些驚恐。

The Duke of St. Austrey, who sat at his hostess's right, was naturally the chief figure of the evening. But if the Countess Olenska was less conspicuous than had been hoped, the Duke was almost invisible. Being a well-bred man he had not (like another recent ducal visitor) come to the dinner in a shooting-jacket; but his evening clothes were so shabby and baggy, and he wore them with such an air of their being homespun, that (with his stooping way of sitting, and the vast beard spreading over his shirt-front) he hardly gave the appearance of being in dinner attire. He was short, round-shouldered, sunburnt, with a thick nose, small eyes and a sociable smile; but he seldom spoke, and when he did it was in such low tones that, despite the frequent silences of expectation about the table, his remarks were lost to all but his neighbours.
坐在女主人有首的聖奧斯特雷公爵自然是今晚的首要人物。然而，如果說奧蘭斯卡伯爵夫人沒有人們預期的那樣突出，那麼這位公爵就更不引人注目了。作爲一個有教養的人，他並沒有（像最近另一位公爵客人那樣）穿着獵裝來出席宴會，但是他穿的晚禮服是那樣蹩腳，那樣寒酸，他那副尊容益發顯出衣着的粗陋（躬腰坐着，一把大鬍子技散在襯衫前），讓人很難看出是出席宴會的打扮。他身材矮小，彎腰曲背，曬得黝黑的皮膚，肥厚的鼻子，小小的眼睛，臉上掛着不變的微笑。他少言寡語，講話的時候語調特別低，儘管餐桌上的人不時靜下來等待聆聽他的高見，但除了鄰座，他的話誰也聽不見。

When the men joined the ladies after dinner the Duke went straight up to the Countess Olenska, and they sat down in a corner and plunged into animated talk. Neither seemed aware that the Duke should first have paid his respects to Mrs. Lovell Mingott and Mrs. Headly Chivers, and the Countess have conversed with that amiable hypochondriac, Mr. Urban Dagonet of Washington Square, who, in order to have the pleasure of meeting her, had broken through his fixed rule of not dining out between January and April. The two chatted together for nearly twenty minutes; then the Countess rose and, walking alone across the wide drawing-room, sat down at Newland Archer's side.
餐後男士與女士匯合的時候，公爵徑直朝奧蘭斯卡伯爵夫人走去。他們在角落裏剛一坐下，便熱烈交談起來。兩個人似乎誰也沒有意識到，公爵應該先向洛弗爾·明戈特太太與黑德利·奇弗斯太太致意，而伯爵夫人則應該與那位和藹的癔症患者、華盛頓廣場的厄本·達戈內特交談。他爲了能與她幸會，甚至不惜打破了1 至4月份不外出用餐的常規。兩個人一起聊了將近20分鐘，然後伯爵夫人站了起來，獨自走過寬敞的客廳，在紐蘭·阿切爾身邊坐了下來。

It was not the custom in New York drawing-rooms for a lady to get up and walk away from one gentleman in order to seek the company of another. Etiquette required that she should wait, immovable as an idol, while the men who wished to converse with her succeeded each other at her side. But the Countess was apparently unaware of having broken any rule; she sat at perfect ease in a corner of the sofa beside Archer, and looked at him with the kindest eyes.
一位女士起身離開一位紳士，去找另一位紳士作伴，這在紐約的客廳裏是不合常規的。按照禮節，她應該像木偶似地坐在那兒等待，讓希望與她交談的男士一個接一個地到她身邊來。但伯爵夫人顯然沒有意識到違背了任何規矩，她悠然自得地坐在阿切爾身旁沙發的角落裏，用最親切的目光看着他。

"I want you to talk to me about May," she said.
“我想讓你對我講講梅的事，”她說。

Instead of answering her he asked: "You knew the Duke before?"
他沒有回答，反而問道：“你以前認識公爵嗎？”

"Oh, yes--we used to see him every winter at Nice. He's very fond of gambling--he used to come to the house a great deal." She said it in the simplest manner, as if she had said: "He's fond of wild-flowers"; and after a moment she added candidly: "I think he's the dullest man I ever met."
“唔，是的——過去在尼斯時我們每年冬天都和他見面。他很愛賭博——他是我們家的常客。”她直言不諱地說，彷彿在講：“他喜歡拈花惹草。”過了一會兒她又坦然地補充道：“我覺得他是我見過的最蠢的男人了。”

This pleased her companion so much that he forgot the slight shock her previous remark had caused him. It was undeniably exciting to meet a lady who found the van der Luydens' Duke dull, and dared to utter the opinion. He longed to question her, to hear more about the life of which her careless words had given him so illuminating a glimpse; but he feared to touch on distressing memories, and before he could think of anything to say she had strayed back to her original subject.
這句話令她的同伴異常快活，竟使他忘記了她前一句話使他產生的微震驚。不可否認，會見一位認爲範德盧頓家的公爵愚蠢、並敢於發表這一見解的女士，的確令人興奮。他很想問問她，多聽一聽她的生活情況——她漫不經心的話語已經很有啓發地讓他窺見了一斑；然而他又擔心觸動她傷心的回憶。還沒等他想出說什麼，她已經轉回到她最初的話題上了。

"May is a darling; I've seen no young girl in New York so handsome and so intelligent. Are you very much in love with her?"
“梅非常可愛，我發現紐約沒有哪個年輕姑娘像她那樣漂亮、聰明。你很愛她吧？”

Newland Archer reddened and laughed. "As much as a man can be."
紐蘭·阿切爾紅了臉，笑道：“男人對女人的愛能有多深，我對她的愛就有多深。”

She continued to consider him thoughtfully, as if not to miss any shade of meaning in what he said, "Do you think, then, there is a limit?"
她繼續着有所思地打量着他，彷彿不想漏掉他話中的任何一點含義似的。“這麼說，你認爲還有個極限？”

"To being in love? If there is, I haven't found it!"
“你是說愛的極限？假如有的話，我現在還沒有發現呢！”

She glowed with sympathy. "Ah--it's really and truly a romance?"
她深受感動地說：“啊——那一定是真實的。忠誠的愛情了？”

"The most romantic of romances!"
“是最最熱烈的愛情！”

"How delightful! And you found it all out for yourselves--it was not in the least arranged for you?"
“太好了！這愛完全是由你們自己找到的——絲毫不是別人爲你們安排的吧？”

Archer looked at her incredulously. "Have you forgotten," he asked with a smile, "that in our country we don't allow our marriages to be arranged for us?"
阿切爾奇怪地看着她，面帶笑容地問：“難道你忘了——在我們國家，婚姻是不允許由別人安排的？”

A dusky blush rose to her cheek, and he instantly regretted his words.
一片潮紅升上她的面頰，他立即懊悔自己說過的話。

"Yes," she answered, "I'd forgotten. You must forgive me if I sometimes make these mistakes. I don't always remember that everything here is good that was--that was bad where I've come from." She looked down at her Viennese fan of eagle feathers, and he saw that her lips trembled.
“是的，”她回答說，“我忘了。如果有時候我犯了這樣的錯誤，你一定得原諒我。在這兒人們看作是好的事情，在我來的那地方卻被當成壞事，可我有時候會忘記這一點。”她低頭看着那把羽毛扇，他發現她的雙脣在顫抖。

"I'm so sorry," he said impulsively; "but you ARE among friends here, you know."
“非常抱歉，”他衝動地說。“可你知道，你現在是在朋友中間了。”

"Yes--I know. Wherever I go I have that feeling. That's why I came home. I want to forget everything else, to become a complete American again, like the Mingotts and Wellands, and you and your delightful mother, and all the other good people here tonight. Ah, here's May arriving, and you will want to hurry away to her," she added, but without moving; and her eyes turned back from the door to rest on the young man's face.
“是的——我知道。我走到哪裏都有這種感覺。這正是我回家來的原因。我想把其他的事全部忘掉，重新變成一個徹底的美國人，就像明戈特家和韋蘭家的人一樣，像你和你令人愉快的母親，以及今晚在這裏的所有其他的好人一樣。叮，梅來了，你一定是想立即趕到她身邊去了，”她又說，但沒有動彈，她的目光從門口轉回來，落到年輕人的臉上。

The drawing-rooms were beginning to fill up with after-dinner guests, and following Madame Olenska's glance Archer saw May Welland entering with her mother. In her dress of white and silver, with a wreath of silver blossoms in her hair, the tall girl looked like a Diana just alight from the chase.
餐後的客人漸漸地擠滿了客廳。順着奧蘭斯卡夫人的目光，阿切爾看到梅·韋蘭正和母親一起走進門。身穿銀白色服裝，頭上戴着銀白色花朵的花環，那位身材高挑的姑娘看起來就像剛狩獵歸來的狄安娜女神。

"Oh," said Archer, "I have so many rivals; you see she's already surrounded. There's the Duke being introduced."
“啊，”阿切爾說，“我的競爭者可真多呀；你瞧她已經被包圍住了。那邊正在介紹那位公爵呢。”

"Then stay with me a little longer," Madame Olenska said in a low tone, just touching his knee with her plumed fan. It was the lightest touch, but it thrilled him like a caress.
“那就跟我多呆一會兒吧，”奧蘭斯卡夫人低聲說，並用她的羽毛扇輕輕碰了一下他的膝蓋。雖然只是極輕的一碰，但卻如愛撫一般令他震顫。

"Yes, let me stay," he answered in the same tone, hardly knowing what he said; but just then Mr. van der Luyden came up, followed by old Mr. Urban Dagonet. The Countess greeted them with her grave smile, and Archer, feeling his host's admonitory glance on him, rose and surrendered his seat.
“好的，我留下，”他用同樣的語氣說，幾乎不知自己在講什麼。但正在這時，範德盧頓先生過來了，後面跟着老厄本·達戈內特先生。伯爵夫人以莊重的微笑與他們招呼，阿切爾覺察到主人對他責備的目光，便起身讓出了他的座位。

Madame Olenska held out her hand as if to bid him goodbye.
奧蘭斯卡夫人伸出一隻手，彷彿向他告別。

"Tomorrow, then, after five--I shall expect you," she said; and then turned back to make room for Mr. Dagonet.
“那麼，明天，5點鐘以後——我等你，”她說，然後轉身爲達戈內特先生讓出位置。

"Tomorrow--" Archer heard himself repeating, though there had been no engagement, and during their talk she had given him no hint that she wished to see him again.
“明天——”阿切爾聽見自己重複說，儘管事先沒有約定，他們交談時她也沒向他暗示想再見他。

As he moved away he saw Lawrence Lefferts, tall and resplendent, leading his wife up to be introduced; and heard Gertrude Lefferts say, as she beamed on the Countess with her large unperceiving smile: "But I think we used to go to dancing-school together when we were children--." Behind her, waiting their turn to name themselves to the Countess, Archer noticed a number of the recalcitrant couples who had declined to meet her at Mrs. Lovell Mingott's. As Mrs. Archer remarked: when the van der Luydens chose, they knew how to give a lesson. The wonder was that they chose so seldom.
他走開的時候，看見身材高大、神采奕奕的勞倫斯·萊弗茨，正領着妻子走來準備被引薦給伯爵夫人。他還聽見格特魯德·萊弗茨滿臉堆着茫然的笑容高興地對伯爵夫人說：“我想我們小時候經常一起去舞蹈學校——”在她身後，等着向伯爵夫人通報姓名的人中間，阿切爾注意到還有幾對拒絕在洛弗爾·明戈特太太家歡迎她的倔強夫婦。正如阿切爾太太所說的：範德盧頓夫婦只要樂意，他們知道如何教訓人。奇怪的是他們樂意的時候卻太少了。

The young man felt a touch on his arm and saw Mrs. van der Luyden looking down on him from the pure eminence of black velvet and the family diamonds. "It was good of you, dear Newland, to devote yourself so unselfishly to Madame Olenska. I told your cousin Henry he must really come to the rescue."
年輕人覺得胳膊被碰了一下。他發現範德盧頓太太穿一身名貴的黑絲絨，戴着家族的鑽石首飾，正居高臨下地看着他。“親愛的紐蘭，你毫無私心地關照奧蘭斯卡夫人，真是太好了。我告訴你表舅亨利，他一定要過來幫忙。”

He was aware of smiling at her vaguely, and she added, as if condescending to his natural shyness: "I've never seen May looking lovelier. The Duke thinks her the handsomest girl in the room."
他發覺自己茫然微笑着望着她，她彷彿俯就他靦腆的天性似地又補充說：“我從沒見過梅像今天這麼可愛，公爵認爲她是客廳裏最漂亮的姑娘。”

雙語小說連載:純真年代 The Age of Innocence(7)