狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第54章Part1

Tea-time, an hour short of midnight; the place, a French apartment, comprising some half-dozen rooms; - a dull cold hall or corridor, a dining-room, a drawing-room, a bed-room, and an inner drawingroom, or boudoir, smaller and more retired than the rest. All these shut in by one large pair of doors on the main staircase, but each room provided with two or three pairs of doors of its own, establishing several means of communication with the remaining portion of the apartment, or with certain small passages within the wall, leading, as is not unusual in such houses, to some back stairs with an obscure outlet below. The whole situated on the first floor of so large an Hotel, that it did not absorb one entire row of windows upon one side of the square court-yard in the centre, upon which the whole four sides of the mansion looked.
An air of splendour, sufficiently faded to be melancholy, and sufficiently dazzling to clog and embarrass the details of life with a show of state, reigned in these rooms The walls and ceilings were gilded and painted; the floors were waxed and polished; crimson drapery hung in festoons from window, door, and mirror; and candelabra, gnarled and intertwisted like the branches of trees, or horns of animals, stuck out from the panels of the wall. But in the day-time, when the lattice-blinds (now closely shut) were opened, and the light let in, traces were discernible among this finery, of wear and tear and dust, of sun and damp and smoke, and lengthened intervals of want of use and habitation, when such shows and toys of life seem sensitive like life, and waste as men shut up in prison do. Even night, and clusters of burning candles, could not wholly efface them, though the general glitter threw them in the shade.
The glitter of bright tapers, and their reflection in looking-glasses, scraps of gilding and gay colours, were confined, on this night, to one room - that smaller room within the rest, just now enumerated. Seen from the hall, where a lamp was feebly burning, through the dark perspective of open doors, it looked as shining and precious as a gem. In the heart of its radiance sat a beautiful woman - Edith.
She was alone. The same defiant, scornful woman still. The cheek a little worn, the eye a little larger in appearance, and more lustrous, but the haughty bearing just the same. No shame upon her brow; no late repentance bending her disdainful neck. Imperious and stately yet, and yet regardless of herself and of all else, she sat wIth her dark eyes cast down, waiting for someone.
No book, no work, no occupation of any kind but her own thought, beguiled the tardy time. Some purpose, strong enough to fill up any pause, possessed her. With her lips pressed together, and quivering if for a moment she released them from her control; with her nostril inflated; her hands clasped in one another; and her purpose swelling in her breast; she sat, and waited.
At the sound of a key in the outer door, and a footstep in the hall, she started up, and cried 'Who's that?' The answer was in French, and two men came in with jingling trays, to make preparation for supper.
'Who had bade them to do so?' she asked.
'Monsieur had commanded it, when it was his pleasure to take the apartment. Monsieur had said, when he stayed there for an hour, en route, and left the letter for Madame - Madame had received it surely?'
'Yes.'
'A thousand pardons! The sudden apprehension that it might have been forgotten had struck hIm;' a bald man, with a large beard from a neighbouring restaurant; 'with despair! Monsieur had said that supper was to be ready at that hour: also that he had forewarned Madame of the commands he had given, in his letter. Monsieur had done the Golden Head the honour to request that the supper should be choice and delicate. Monsieur would find that his confidence in the Golden Head was not misplaced.'
Edith said no more, but looked on thoughtfully while they prepared the table for two persons, and set the wine upon it. She arose before they had finished, and taking a lamp, passed into the bed-chamber and into the drawing-room, where she hurriedly but narrowly examined all the doors; particularly one in the former room that opened on the passage in the wall. From this she took the key, and put it on the outer side. She then came back.
The men - the second of whom was a dark, bilious subject, in a jacket, close shaved, and with a black head of hair close cropped - had completed their preparation of the table, and were standing looking at it. He who had spoken before, inquired whether Madame thought it would be long before Monsieur arrived?
'She couldn't say. It was all one.'

時間是在午夜差一個小時；地點是在法國的一套房間裏，這套房間由幾個房間組成：一間陰暗的，寒冷的門廳或走廊，一間餐廳，一間客廳，一間臥室，一間內客廳或閨房，最後這一間比其餘各間小，也比其餘各間隱僻。所有這些房間都被主要樓梯的兩扇門關在裏面，但是每間房間都有自己的兩、三個門，通過不同的方式和其他房間相通，並和牆中間的一些狹小的通道通接，而且像這類房屋中常有的情形那樣，通向後面的樓梯，後面的樓梯下面有一個隱蔽的出口，它通向外面的街道。整套房間位於一個旅館的二層樓。旅館很大，中間是一個方形的庭院，整座大樓的四面都朝着它。其中有一面的整排窗子並沒有被這套房間完全佔有。
這些房間氣派豪華，但是光澤已失去很多，因此顯出了令人憂傷的情調；房間的陳設耀眼奪目，處處炫示它的富麗堂皇，因此使人感到難於日常生活。牆壁和天花板已經鍍過金和繪過圖畫；地板已經上過蠟，並擦得亮亮的；深紅色的帷幔以花彩的形式從窗子上、門上和鏡子上懸掛下來；枝形燭架像獸角一樣，上面有好多節，彎彎曲曲地從牆壁的嵌板中伸出來。可是在白天，當格子式的百葉窗（現在關得緊緊的）打開，光線射進來的時候，從這些華麗的陳設中間可以看得出磨損與灰塵留下的痕跡，以及陽光、潮溼與煙霧留下的痕跡，也可以看得出這些房間已經長久未用，無人居住，因爲這些供生命進行炫耀和玩樂的東西似乎像生命一樣敏感，並像囚禁在監獄中的人們一樣日漸衰老下去。甚至夜晚，一支支點燃的蠟燭也不能完全消除這些痕跡，雖然燦爛的光輝已使它們退縮到陰影之中。
這天夜裏，只在一個房間--剛纔提到的那個最小的房間--裏，可以看見細小的蠟燭的明亮的光輝和它們在鏡子裏的映像，以及少許鍍金和鮮豔的顏色。門廳裏有一盞燈，發出暗淡的光，從門廳通過一長列黑暗的、開着的房門看過去，這個房間像寶石一樣閃耀着光芒，也像寶石一樣寶貴可愛。在它的光輝的中心坐着一位美麗的女人--伊迪絲。
她單獨一人。仍然是那位目中無人、蔑視一切的女人。她的臉頰稍稍凹陷下去一些，眼睛看上去稍稍大了一些，而且更有光澤，可是傲慢的態度仍舊和過去一樣。在她的臉上沒有一點羞愧的表情；她高傲的脖子沒有低垂下去，表示最近感到悔恨。她和過去一樣專橫、莊嚴，和過去一樣對她本人和所有其他的人漠不關心；她現在坐在那裏，等待什麼人。
她沒有看書，沒有做針線活，除了獨自沉思外，她沒有別的活動來消磨這緩慢的時間。她心中正懷着某種決心，它強大得足以填補任何空隙的時間。她雙脣緊閉，如果稍有片刻放鬆控制，它們就顫抖着；她的鼻孔張得大大的；兩隻手互相緊握着；她的決心在她心中變得愈來愈強烈，她坐着；等待着。
聽到外面的門上轉動鑰匙的和門廳裏的腳步聲，她驚跳起來，喊道，”是誰？”回答是用法語說的，兩個僕人端着發出叮噹響聲的托盤走進來，準備開晚飯。
她問是誰吩咐他們做這些事情的。
“是Monsieur（先生）訂下這套房間的時候吩咐的。他enroute（在路途中）到這裏待了一個鐘頭的時候說的。他還留下一封信給夫人--夫人想必收到了吧？”
“收到了。”
請原諒一千次！他因爲突然擔心信可能會被忘記轉交，心慌得要命，所以才問了這個問題。他是一位禿頭並留着大鬍子的僕人，從鄰近餐館來的，他說：”Monsieur說過，晚餐必須在這個鐘頭準備好，還說，他在信中已預先通知了夫人。‘金頭’餐館感到十分榮幸，Monsieur要求它提供上等的、美味的晚餐。Monsieur將會發現，‘金頭’沒有辜負他的信任。”
伊迪絲不再說什麼，若有所思地注視着他們在餐桌上擺放兩個人的餐具，還在上面放了一瓶酒。在他們結束之前，她站起來，拿了一盞燈，走進臥室，又從臥室走進客廳；她在兩間房間裏匆忙而又仔細地察看了所有的門，特別是臥室裏那扇通向牆中通道的門。她從這扇門中取出鑰匙，放進朝外一邊的鑰匙孔中。然後她走回原處。
僕人們--第二位僕人是一個皮膚黝黑、脾氣大的人，穿一件短上衣，鬍子颳得光光的，黑頭髮剪得短短的--已經做完了準備餐桌的工作，正站在那裏看着它。剛纔講過話的那位僕人問夫人，她想Monsieur是不是很快就會來到。
她不知道這一點。對她來說，這無所謂。