雙語·《刀鋒》 第四章 八

CHAPTER FOUR 8
第四章 八

Though Suzanne had always lived in Montmartre, she decided that it was necessary to break with the past, so she took an apartment in Montparnasse in a house just off the boulevard. It consisted of two rooms, a tiny kitchen, and a bathroom；it was on the sixth floor, but there was a lift.To her a bathroom and a lift, even though it only held two persons and moved at a snail's pace and you had to walk downstairs, represented not only luxury but style.
蘇姍娜雖說一直住在蒙馬特高地，此時卻覺得有必要與過去一刀兩斷，于是就在蒙巴納斯街區(qū)離林蔭道不遠處的一幢公寓樓里租了一套房，里面包括兩個房間、一個小廚房和一個浴室。此房位于六層，不過是配有電梯的。那電梯一次只能搭乘兩人，慢得像蝸牛爬，下樓還得步行。但是，浴室和電梯對她而言，不僅代表的是奢華的生活，也是一種時髦。

For the first few months of their union Monsieur Achille Gauvain, for such was his name, put up at a hotel on his fortnightly visits to Paris and, after spending such part of the night with Suzanne as his amorous inclina-tion demanded, returned to it to sleep by himself till it was time for him to get up and catch his train to return to his business affairs and the sober pleasures of family life；but then Suzanne pointed out to him that he was throwing away money to no purpose and it would be both more economical and more comfortable if he stayed in the apartment till morning. He could not but see the force of this.He was flattered at Suzanne's thoughtfulness for his comfort-it was true, there was nothing agreeable in going out into the street and finding a taxi on a cold winter night-and he approved of her disinclination to put him to useless expense.It was a good woman who counted not only her own pennies but her lover's.
二人同居的頭幾個月，阿吉里·高凡先生（此為制造商的名字），每隔兩個星期來到巴黎一趟，下榻于一個旅館，受熾熱欲望的驅使，跟蘇姍娜做完好事，然后再回到旅館獨眠，次日起床乘火車回去料理事務，享受靜謐、愉快的家庭生活。后來，蘇姍娜向他指出，說那樣糟蹋錢是毫無道理的，完全可以留在公寓里，早晨再走，既省錢又少受點罪。他覺得此話說得有理。蘇姍娜這一番知痛知癢的話說得他心里暖洋洋的。說真的，冬夜天氣冷，跑上街頭攔出租車，可不是件好受的事。至于她不愿讓他花冤枉錢，也打動了他的心。一個女人，既懂得自己省開銷，也知道為情人節(jié)省銅板，這才是好女人。

Monsieur Achille had every reason to feel pleased with himself. In general they went to dine at one of the better restaurants in Montparnasse, but now and then Suzanne prepared dinner for him in the apartment.The tasty food she gave him was very much to his liking.On warm evenings he would dine in his shirt-sleeves and feel deliciously wanton and bohemian.He had always had an inclination for buying pictures, but Suzanne would let him buy nothing that she did not approve of, and he soon found reason to trust her judgement.She would have no truck with dealers, but took him to the studios of the painters and thus enabled him to buy pictures for half the money he would otherwise have had to pay.He knew that she was putting something aside, and when she told him that year by year she was buying a bit of land in her native village, he felt a thrill of pride.He knew the desire to own land that is in the heart of every person of French blood, and his esteem for her was increased because she possessed it too.
阿吉里先生對現(xiàn)狀感到十分滿意。他們倆一般都是下館子，到蒙巴納斯街區(qū)比較好的餐館吃飯，但有的時候，蘇姍娜也會親自下廚，留他在公寓里吃飯。她燒得一手好菜，很對阿吉里先生的口味。吃晚飯時，如果天氣暖和，阿吉里先生就脫掉外衣，只穿一件襯衫，感覺很有一種無拘無束、放蕩不羈的藝術家風范。他一直對畫品情有獨鐘，喜歡買畫，但蘇姍娜對于自己看不上的畫，絕對不允許他買。沒過多久，他便發(fā)現(xiàn)蘇姍娜眼光獨到，值得信賴了。蘇姍娜不讓他和中間人打交道，而是直接把他帶到畫家的畫室里去買，所花的錢只抵在外面買畫的一半。阿吉里先生知道她在攢錢，后來她告訴他，說她每年都要在老家的村子里添置一些地產(chǎn)，阿吉里聽了為她感到很是自豪。他清楚，在每個法國人的血液里都涌動著擁有土地的欲望，而就是因為蘇姍娜擁有了土地，故而對她的敬重又增加了幾分。

On her side Suzanne was well satisfied. She was neither faithful to him nor unfaithful；that is to say, she took care not to form any permanent connexion with another man, but if she came across one who took her fancy she was not averse from going to bed with him.But it was a point of honour with her not to let him stay all night.She felt she owed that to the man of means and position who had settled her life in such an assured and respectable manner.
蘇姍娜這一邊也是心滿意足的。她對阿吉里先生既忠實，也不忠實。這就是說，她留意著不和別的男人保持固定的關系，但如果碰上看得上眼的，也不反對與對方行云雨之歡。但是，她絕不留意中人在家里過夜，這涉及良心的問題。她覺得自己欠那位有錢有地位的阿吉里先生一份情，因為正是阿吉里先生讓她衣食無憂，過上了穩(wěn)定和有尊嚴的生活。

I had come to know Suzanne when she was living with a painter who happened to be an acquaintance of mine andhad often sat in his studio while she posed；I continued to see her now and then at irregular intervals, but did not enter upon terms of any intimacy with her till she moved to Montparnasse. It appeared that Monsieur Achille, for this was how she always spoke of him and how she addressed him, had read one or two of my books in translation, and one evening he invited me to dine with them at a restaurant.He was a little man, half a head shorter than Suzanne, with iron-grey hair and a neat grey moustache.He was on the plump side, and he had a pot-belly, but only to the extent of giving him an air of substance.He walked with the short fat man's strut and it was plain that he was not displeased with himself.He gave me a fine dinner.He was very polite.He told me he was glad I was a friend of Suzanne's, he could see at a glance that I was comme il faut and he would be glad to think that I should see something of her.His affairs, alas！kept him tied to Lille and the poor girl was too often alone；it would be a comfort to him to know that she was in touch with a man of education.He was a businessman, but he had always admired artists.
我是在蘇姍娜和一位畫家同居時認識她的。這位畫家是我的一個相識。蘇姍娜在他繪畫時為他當模特兒，我時常坐在旁邊看。我也只是隔上一段時間偶爾見見她，直至她遷入蒙巴納斯街區(qū)，和她的交往才密切了起來。事情是這樣的——阿吉里先生（她無論是提到還是當面稱呼那位制造商都是這么叫的）讀了一兩本我的小說的法譯本，于是，在某天晚上，請我到一家飯館里和他們一起吃飯。他五短身材，比蘇姍娜矮半個頭，鐵灰色的頭發(fā)，八字胡修剪得整整齊齊，稍微有點偏胖，肚子突起，但并非大腹便便，僅僅襯托出了他的派頭和氣質而已。他走路邁著矮胖男人的那種四方步，一副意氣風發(fā)的樣子。這頓飯十分豐盛。他對我非?？蜌?，說很高興蘇姍娜有我這樣的朋友。他說一眼就看出我是個好人，對于我如此看得起蘇姍娜而感到欣慰。他雜事太多，使他在里爾脫不了身，讓可憐的蘇姍娜倍感寂寞，多虧有我這等文化人相伴，真是叫人舒心。他雖然是生意人，對藝術家卻素有敬仰之心。

“Ah, mon cher monsieur, art and literature have always been the twin glories of France. Along with her military prowess, of course.And I, a manufacturer of woollen goods, have no hesitation in saying that I put the painter and the writer on a level with the general and the statesman.”
“啊，我親愛的先生，藝術和文學一直是法蘭西的一對瑰寶。當然，它的軍事實力可與之并駕齊驅。我是個毛織品制造商，不偏不倚，毫不猶豫地會將畫家和作家放在與將軍及政治家同等的位置?！?/p>

No one could say handsomer than that.
他的一席話說得無比入耳。

Suzanne would not hear of having a maid to do the housework, partly for economy's sake and partly because（for reasons best known to herself）she didn't want anyone poking her nose into what was nobody's business but her own. She kept the tiny apartment, furnished in the most modern style of the moment, clean and neat, and she made all her own underclothes.But even then, now that she no longer posed, time hung heavily on her hands, for she was an industrious woman；and presently the idea occurred to her that, after having sat to so many painters, there was no reason why she should not paint too.She bought canvases, brushes, and paints and forthwith set to work.Sometimes when I was to take her out to dinner I would go early and find her in a smock busily at work.Just as the embryo in the womb recapitulates in brief the evolution of the species, so did Suzanne recapitulate the styles of all her lovers.She painted landscape like the landscape painter, abstractions like the cubist, and with the help of picture postcards sailing-boats lying at anchor like the Scandinavian.She could not draw, but she had an agreeable sense of colour, and if her pictures were not very good she got a lot of fun out of painting them. Monsieur Achille encouraged her. It gave him a sense of satisfaction that his mistress should be an artist.It was on his insistence that she sent a canvas to the autumn salon and they were both very proud when it was hung.He gave her one bit of good advice.
蘇姍娜堅決不愿請女傭料理家務，一半是為了省錢，一半是因為（她自己知道得最清楚）她不喜歡有人插手于純粹屬于她個人分內(nèi)的事物。那套小公寓被她收拾得干干凈凈、整整齊齊，而且按照當時最時新的式樣加以陳設；所有的內(nèi)衣都由她自己親手來縫制。可是，即便如此，由于她不再當模特兒，時間仍多得難以打發(fā)。鑒于她是個閑不住的人，不久便心生一念：為那么多畫家當過模特兒，她自己也應該畫上幾筆。說干就干，她立刻買來畫布、畫筆和油彩等用品，動手畫了起來。有時候，我?guī)鋈コ燥?，去得早一點，就會看見她穿著罩衫在忙著作畫。與胎兒在子宮里重現(xiàn)物種進化的過程基本一樣，蘇姍娜也重現(xiàn)了她過去所有情人的風格。她畫風景像那個風景畫家，畫抽象畫像那個立體派畫家，還以風景明信片為參照畫了一只停泊的帆船，畫風跟那個斯堪的納維亞人的一樣。她的畫技很糟，但色彩感不錯。即便畫得不怎么樣，她卻從中獲得了不少樂趣。阿吉里先生對她大加鼓勵。想到自己的情婦是個畫家，使他心里有一種滿足感。在他的敦促之下，蘇姍娜送了一張畫去參加秋季沙龍?？匆娔欠嫆煸谡箯d里，二人都頗為之自豪。阿吉里先生給她提了一條忠告。

“Don't try to paint like a man, my dear，”he said.“Paint like a woman. Don't aim to be strong；be satisfied to charm.And be honest.In business sharp practice sometimes succeeds, but in art honesty is not only the best but the only policy.”
“畫的時候，不要像男人一樣陽剛氣十足，親愛的，”他說道，“而應有女性的溫柔。不求筆鋒遒勁，但求柔美入眼。畫風應該求實。生意場上弄虛作假有時能出奇制勝，但在藝術上求實至上，也是唯一可行之道?！?/p>

At the time of which I write the connexion had lasted for five years to their mutual content.
故事寫到此處，他們倆交往已有五年之久，彼此都感到很滿意。

“Evidently he doesn't thrill me，”said Suzanne.“But he's intelligent and in a good position. I've reached an age when it's necessary for me to think of my situation.”
“顯然，他并非叫我熱血沸騰的那種人，”蘇姍娜告訴我說，“但他是智慧型的，有著很好的社會地位。我也老大不小了，應該考慮考慮退路了?！?/p>

She was sympathetic and understanding and Monsieur Achille conceived a high opinion of her judgement. She lent a willing ear when he discussed with her his business and domestic affairs.She condoled with him when his daughter failed in an examination and rejoiced with him when his son got engaged to a girl with money.He had himself married the only child of a man in his own line of business and the amalgamation of two rival firms had been a source of profit to both parties.It was naturally a satisfaction to him that his son was sensible enough to see that the soundest basis of a happy marriage is community of financial interests.He confided to Suzanne his ambition to marry his daughter into the aristocracy.
她富于同情之心，明白事理。阿吉里先生很尊重她的意見。他把生意場上的事和家里的事講給她聽時，她會側著耳朵傾聽。他女兒有一次考試落榜，她跟著他一道難過。他的兒子與一個有錢人家的千金訂婚，她則和他一起高興。他本人娶的就是一個同行人家的獨生女。兩個廠家原來是對頭，這一聯(lián)姻對雙方都有好處?，F(xiàn)在兒子也懂得了這個道理，知道幸福的婚姻必須有共同的物質利益作為堅實的基礎，這叫他感到舒心。他推心置腹地告訴蘇姍娜，說他有個野心，想把女兒嫁給貴族。

“And why not, with her fortune?”said Suzanne.
“她有的是錢，這是順理成章的事。”蘇姍娜說。

Monsieur Achille made it possible for Suzanne to send her own daughter to a convent where she would receive a good education, and he promised that at the proper age he would pay to have her suitably trained to earn her living as a typist and stenographer.
阿吉里先生替蘇姍娜著想，把蘇姍娜的女兒送進了一所女修道院辦的學校，讓她在那兒接受良好的教育，答應等她女兒到適當?shù)哪挲g時，由他出錢去學習打字和速記，以便日后靠此謀生。

“She's going to be a beauty when she grows up，”Suzanne told me，“but evidently it won't hurt her to have an education and to be able to pound a typewriter. She's so young it's too soon to tell, but it may be that she'll have no temperament.”
“她長大后一定是個大美女?！碧K姍娜告訴我，“反正受點教育，以后會打字，是沒有壞處的。她現(xiàn)在還小，什么事都難以預料，說不定她會變得缺乏氣質呢?！?/p>

Suzanne had delicacy. She left it to my intelligence to infer her meaning.I inferred it all right.
蘇姍娜的話藏頭露尾，弦外之音由著我去猜想了。我當然是能猜得出來的。