雙語·《刀鋒》 第五章 六

CHAPTER FIVE 6
第五章 六

Elliott arrived at Claridge's a fortnight later and shortly afterwards I dropped in to see him. He had ordered himself several suits of clothes and at what I thought excessive length told me in detail what he had chosen and why.When at last I could get a word in I asked him how the wedding had gone off.
兩個星期后，艾略特來到了克拉里奇酒店。他到后不久，我立刻跑去見他。他給自己定做了幾套衣服，看到我，便詳細地介紹起他選的是什么料子以及出于什么原因，聽得我有些不耐煩。最后，我終于找了個空插進話去，問他拉里的婚禮舉辦得怎么樣。

“It didn't go off，”he answered grimly.
“就沒有舉辦成。”他冷冷地說。

“What do you mean?”
“這話是什么意思？”

“Three days before it was to take place Sophie disappeared. Larry hunted everywhere for her.”
“舉辦婚禮的前三天，索菲失蹤了。拉里到處找她?！?/p>

“What an extraordinary thing！Did they have a row?”
“怎么會有這怪事！他們吵架了嗎？”

“No. Far from it.Everything had been arranged.I was going to give her away.They were taking the Orient Express immediately after the wedding.If you ask me, I think Larry's well out of it.”
“沒有，沒有吵架。當(dāng)時萬事俱備，就等著舉行婚禮了。我負責(zé)把新娘交給新郎。婚禮之后，他們即刻乘東方快車去度蜜月。要是問起來，我倒覺得這樣對拉里更好?！?/p>

I guessed that Isabel had told Elliott everything.
我猜想伊莎貝爾把所有的一切都告訴了艾略特。

“What exactly happened?”I asked.
“到底出什么事了？”我問。

“Well, you remember that day we lunched at the Ritz with you. Isabel took her to Molyneux's.D'you remember the dress Sophie wore?Deplorable.Did you notice the shoulders?That's how you tell if a dress is well made, by the way it fits over the shoulders.Of course, poor girl, she couldn't afford Molyneux's prices, and Isabel, you know how generous she is, and after all they’ve known one another since they were children, Isabel offered to give her a dress so that at least she’d have something decent to be married in.Naturally she jumped at it.Well, to cut a long story short, Isabel asked her to come to the apartment one day at three so that they could go together for the final fitting.Sophie came all right, but unfortunately Isabel had to take one of the children to the dentist’s and didn’t get in till after four and by that time Sophie had gone.Isabel thought she’d got tired of waiting and had gone on to Molyneux’s, so she wentthere at once, but she hadn’t come.At last she gave her up and went home again.They were all going to dine together and Larry came along at dinner-time and the first thing she asked him was where Sophie was.
你肯定記得那天咱們在里茨飯店吃過飯，伊莎貝爾帶索菲去了莫利紐克斯服裝店。還記得索菲穿的那件衣服嗎？簡直不能看！你注意那件衣服的肩部了嗎？一件衣服剪裁得好不好，全看肩部合不合體。當(dāng)然嘍，莫利紐克斯服裝店的衣服，可憐的索菲是買不起的。你也知道伊莎貝爾是個非?？犊娜?，念著她們自小就認識，她提出要送給索菲一件衣服，至少能讓索菲在結(jié)婚時穿得體面一些。索菲自然高興得不得了。長話短說，有一天，伊莎貝爾約索菲三點鐘到她家里來，二人一同去服裝店最后試樣。索菲來了，但不幸的是伊莎貝爾要帶兩個孩子去看牙醫(yī)，四點鐘之后方才回到家，而索菲已經(jīng)走了。伊莎貝爾以為她等得不耐煩，自己到莫利紐克斯服裝店去了，于是急忙往那兒趕，到了那兒才知道索菲壓根就沒有去。伊莎貝爾只好作罷，又回到了家里。那天，他們約好要在一起吃晚飯的。拉里按時趕來，伊莎貝爾一見他就問索菲在哪里。

“He couldn't understand it and he rang up her apartment, but there was no reply, so he said he'd go down there. They held dinner up as long as they could, but neither of them turned up and so they had dinner by themselves.Of course you know what Sophie's life was before you ran into her in the Rue de Lappe；that was a most unfortunate idea of yours to take them down there.Well, Larry spent all night going around her old haunts, but couldn't find her anywhere.He went to the apartment after time, but the concierge said she hadn't been in.He spent three days hunting for her.She’d just vanished.Then on the fourth day he went to the apartment again and the concierge told him she’d been in and packed a bag and gone away in a taxi.”
“拉里被問蒙了，急忙給索菲的住處掛電話，但沒人接，于是他說自己要到那兒去看看。吃飯的人等啊等的，始終沒見他倆露面，最后只好自己吃了。你們在拉佩街巧遇索菲之前，她過的是什么日子，這你應(yīng)該是知道的。最為不幸的是，你竟然能想到把他們帶到那種地方去。拉里跑了一整夜，把她常去的地方找了個遍，但一無所獲。他往她住的公寓樓跑了一趟又一趟，而看門人總說她沒有回來。他花了三天的時間馬不停蹄地找，而她像人間蒸發(fā)了一樣。第四天，他又去公寓樓打聽，看門人說她回來了一趟，把東西打了一個包，乘出租車走了?！?/p>

“Was Larry awfully upset?”
“拉里是不是心里非常難過？”

“I didn't see him. Isabel tells me he was rather.”
“我沒見他人，只是聽伊莎貝爾說他感到挺難過的?！?/p>

“She didn't write or anything?”
“索菲沒留下紙條什么的嗎？”

“Nothing.”
“什么都沒有留。”

I thought it over.
我沉吟良久，最后問道：

“What do you make of it?”I said.
“你是怎么看待這件事的？”

“My dear fellow, exactly what you make of it. She couldn't stick it out.She went on the booze again.”
“老伙計，恐怕跟你的看法完全一致。她堅持不下來了，又故態(tài)復(fù)萌，繼續(xù)過她那種醉生夢死的日子了?！?/p>

That was obvious, but for all that it was strange. I couldn't see why she had chosen just that moment to skip.
這是明擺著的事實，可我仍覺得有點蹊蹺，不明白她為何偏偏在這個節(jié)骨眼上開溜。

“How is Isabel taking it?”
“伊莎貝爾怎樣看？”

“Of course she's sorry, but she's a sensible girl and she told me she always thought it would be a disaster if Larry married a woman like that.”
“她當(dāng)然心里不好受。不過，她是個理智的孩子。她告訴我說，她一直覺得拉里要是娶了那樣的女人，一定會是場災(zāi)難?！?/p>

“And Larry?”
“拉里怎么樣啦？”

“Isabel's been very kind to him. She says that what makes it difficult is that he won't discuss it.He'll be all right, you know；Isabel says he was never in love with Sophie.He was only marrying her out of a sort of misguided chivalry.”
“伊莎貝爾對他體貼入微。她說難就難在他不愿談及此事。他一定會恢復(fù)過來的。伊莎貝爾說他壓根就不愛索菲，和她結(jié)婚完全是出自于一片俠肝義膽?！?/p>

I could see Isabel putting a brave face on a turn of events that was certainly causing her a great deal of satisfaction. I well knew that next time I saw her she would not fail to point out to me that she had known all along what would happen.
可以看得出，遇到這突發(fā)事件，伊莎貝爾表現(xiàn)得如此淡定，內(nèi)心八成會感到幸災(zāi)樂禍。我敢肯定，下次見到她，她一定會說早就知道會有這種后果。

But it was nearly a year before I saw her again and though by that time I could have told her something about Sophie that would have set her thinking, the circumstances were such that I had no inclination to. I stayed in London till nearly Christmas and then, wanting to get home, went straight down to the Riviera without stopping in Paris.I set to work on a novel and for the next few months lived in retirement.I saw Elliott now and then.It was obvious that his health was failing, and it pained me that he persisted notwithstanding in leading a social life.He was vexed with me because I would not drive thirty miles to go to the constant parties he continued to give.He thought it very conceited of me to prefer to sit at home and work.
不過，再次見到她，差不多是在一年之后了。那時，我本可以陳述索菲事件的利害關(guān)系，叫她三思，可是鑒于當(dāng)時的處境，我沒有了這份情緒。我在倫敦一直住到圣誕節(jié)前夕，然后直接回到里維埃拉自己家里，中途沒有在巴黎停留。我著手寫一部小說，這以后的幾個月里都過著與世隔絕的生活。對于艾略特倒是時不時見上一面。他的健康顯然在不斷惡化。盡管如此，他仍堅持參加社交活動，看了讓人心痛。他還是一如既往地不斷舉辦宴會，要我驅(qū)車三十英里趕去參加，而我卻不肯，這叫他很是氣惱。他覺得我不喜歡社交，卻喜歡待在家里寫作，顯得有些太自命不凡了。

“It's an unusually brilliant season, my dear fellow，”he told me.“It's a crime to shut yourself up in your house and miss everything that's going on. And why you had to choose a part of the Riviera to live in that's completely out of fashion I shan't be able to understand if I live to be a hundred.”
“這是一個非凡的季節(jié)，讓人激動不已，老伙計?！彼麑ξ艺f道，“把自己關(guān)在家里閉門謝客，任大好時光白白流淌，簡直就是犯罪。你來里維埃拉，偏偏挑了一個死氣沉沉的地區(qū)居住，我就是活上一百年也弄不懂?！?/p>

Poor nice silly Elliott；it was very clear that he would live to no such age.
可憐、善良又有點傻氣的艾略特，顯然是活不到那把歲數(shù)了。

By June I had finished the rough draft of my novel and thought I deserved a holiday, so, packing a bag, I got on the cutter from which in summer we used to bathe in the Baie des Fosses and set sail along the coast towards Marseilles. There was only a fitful breeze and for the most part we chugged along with the motor auxiliary.We spent a night in the harbour at Cannes, another at Sainte Maxime, and a third at Sanary.Then we got to Toulon.That is a port I have always had an affection for.The ships of the French fleet give it an air at once romantic and companionable, and I am never tired of wandering about its old streets.I can linger for hours on the quay, watching the sailors on shore leave strolling about in pairs or with their girls, and the civilians who saunter back and forth as though they had nothing in the world to do but enjoy the pleasant sunshine.Because of all these ships and the ferryboats that take the bustling crowd to variouspoints of the vast harbour, Toulon gives you the effect of a terminal on which all the ways of the wide world converge；and as you sit in a café，your eyes a little dazzled by the brightness of sea and sky, your fancy takes golden journeys to the uttermost parts of the earth.You land in a longboat on a coral beach, fringed with coconut palms, in the Pacific；you step off the gangway on to the dock at Rangoon and get into a rickshaw；you watch from the upper deck the noisy, gesticulating crowd of Negroes as your ship is made fast to the pier at Port au Prince.
六月份，小說的初稿已經(jīng)完成。我覺得自己該休息休息了，于是打起行囊，搭乘一只獨桅縱帆船（夏天我們經(jīng)常乘坐此船去福斯灣洗海水?。?，揚起風(fēng)帆，沿著海岸向馬賽駛?cè)?。由于海風(fēng)時起時停，我們的帆船大部分路程都靠備用馬達突突突地驅(qū)動。中途在戛納港住了一夜，到了圣馬克西姆和薩納里又各住了一夜，然后就到了土倫。我對土倫港素有好感。港灣里法國艦隊的船只讓你見了立刻產(chǎn)生一種浪漫和親切的感覺。在土倫古老的街道上溜達，叫你永遠也不會厭倦。我流連于這兒的碼頭，一待就是好幾個小時，觀看上岸休假的水兵三三兩兩地閑逛，有的與女友相依相伴，觀看平民百姓邁著悠閑的四方步來來往往，就好像除了享受歡樂的陽光外，世界上再沒有其他的事可做了。土倫港水域遼闊，各種輪船和渡船將熙熙攘攘的人群分流到各個碼頭去，于是你就有了一種印象：此處是終點站，包羅萬象，是一個融合了大千世界形形色色特征的地方。當(dāng)你坐在一家咖啡館里，眼睛被水色天光弄得有點眼花繚亂時，你的幻想會插上翅膀，帶你踏上金色的旅途，到天涯海角去。你幻想著自己坐上一條古老的船，在太平洋上遠航，來到一片珊瑚海灘，周圍長滿了椰子樹；你走下舷梯，到了仰光的碼頭上，坐上一輛黃包車；你幻想著你的船抵達了太子港，停泊在碼頭旁，你從甲板上望去，看見一群黑人站在碼頭上，又是歡呼，又是揮手致意。

We got in lateish in the morning and towards the middle of the afternoon I landed and walked along the quay, looking at the shops, at the people who passed me, and at the people sitting under the awning in the cafés.Suddenly I saw Sophie and at the same moment she saw me.She smiled and said hello.I stopped and shook hands with her.She was by herself at a small table with an empty glass before her.
我們的船是在快到中午的時候抵達的。下午的時間剛過了一半，我上岸沿著碼頭走去，一邊走一邊東瞧瞧西看看，看那些店鋪，看那些從身邊走過的路人，看咖啡館外邊坐在遮陽篷下的客人。突然間，我一眼瞧見了索菲。與此同時，她也看見了我。她嫣然一笑，沖我打了個招呼。我停下來和她握手。她獨自坐在一張小桌子旁，面前放一只空玻璃杯。

“Sit down and have a drink，”she said.
“請坐下來喝一杯?！彼f道。

“You have one with me，”I replied, taking a chair.
“你也陪我喝吧?！蔽艺f著，在一把椅子上落了座。

She wore the striped blue-and-white jersey of the French sailor, a pair of bright red slacks, and sandals through which protruded the painted nails of her big toes. She wore no hat, and her hair, cut very short and curled, was of so pale a gold that it was almost silver.She was as heavily made up as when we had run across her at the Rue de Lappe.She had had a drink or two as I judged from the saucers on the table, but she was sober.She did not seem dis-pleased to see me.
她上穿一件法國水手的那種藍白條子?；晟溃麓┮粭l大紅褲子，腳蹬涼鞋，露出幾個大腳趾，趾甲蓋上涂了紅色的指甲油。她沒有戴帽子，頭發(fā)剪得短短的而且燙過，發(fā)色是淡金色，近乎銀色。她濃妝艷抹，一如當(dāng)初在拉佩街遇見她時那樣。從桌上的小碟可以看出她已經(jīng)喝過一兩杯了，不過并無醉意，好像見到我沒有覺得討厭。

“How are all the folks in Paris?”she asked.
“巴黎的朋友們還好嗎？”她問。

“I think they're all right. I haven't seen any of them since that day we all lunched together at the Ritz.”
“也許都好著呢。自從那天咱們一起在里茨飯店吃過午飯之后，我就再沒有見過他們?！?/p>

She blew a great cloud of smoke from her nostrils and began to laugh.
她從鼻孔里噴出一大股煙，哈哈笑了起來。

“I didn't marry Larry after all.”
“最后我還是沒有跟拉里結(jié)婚?！?/p>

“I know. Why not?”
“這我知道。為什么？”

“Darling, when it came to the point I couldn't see myself being Mary Magdalen to his Jesus Christ. No, sir.”
“親愛的，事到臨頭，我覺得自己不是抹大拉的馬利亞，不配得到耶穌基督的化身拉里的拯救。我做不到，先生。”

“What made you change your mind at the last moment?”
“是什么原因使得你在最后關(guān)頭改變了主意？”

She looked at me mockingly. With that audacious tilt of the head, with her small breasts and narrow flanks, in that get-up, she looked like a vicious boy；but I must admit that she was much more attractive than in the red dress, with its dismal air of provincial smartness, in which I had last seen her.Face and neck were deeply burnt by the sun, and though the brownness of her skin made the rouge on her cheeks and the black of her eyebrows more aggres-sive, the effect in its vulgar way was not without lure.
她嬉皮笑臉地望著我，腦袋傲然朝起一揚，小奶子、水蛇腰，再加上她的那身裝束，儼然就是個小頑童。不過，必須承認，上次見面時，她一身紅裝，顯得有些俗麗，帶幾分凄慘，而現(xiàn)在卻媚人多了。她的臉和脖子被陽光曬成了紫銅色，而這種膚色令涂了胭脂的臉蛋和抹了睫毛油的眉毛顯得分外刺眼——她身上的俗氣也不乏嫵媚之處。

“Would you like me to tell you?”
“想聽我說一說嗎？”

I nodded. The waiter brought the beer I had ordered for myself and the brandy and seltzer for her.She lit a caporal from one she had just finished.
我點了點頭。此時，侍者把我為自己要的啤酒以及為她要的白蘭地和蘇打水送了來。她用剛抽完的一根粗絲卷煙的煙屁股又燃起了一根。

“I hadn't had a drink for three months. I hadn't had a smoke.”She saw my faint look of surprise and laughed.“I don't mean cigarettes.Opium.I felt awful.You know, sometimes when I was alone I'd shriek the place down；I'd say，‘I can’t go through with it, I can’t go through with it.’It wasn’t so bad when I was with Larry, but when he wasn’t there it was hell.”
“那三個月里，我滴酒不沾，一口煙也沒有抽過。”她見我露出了詫異的神色，哈哈一笑解釋說，“我指的不是紙煙，而是鴉片。那感覺簡直是活受罪。有時跟前沒人，我就可著嗓門吼叫，能把屋子都震塌。我會對自己說：‘我受不了了，再也受不了了！’和拉里在一起的時候，還不是那么糟糕，而他一旦不在跟前，人間就成了地獄?！?/p>

I was looking at her and when she mentioned opium I scanned her more sharply；I noticed the pin-point pupils that showed she was smoking it now. Her eyes were startlingly green.
我一直在看著她。當(dāng)她提到鴉片時，就更加注意打量起她來，發(fā)現(xiàn)她的瞳孔縮成針眼一樣大，說明她又在吸毒了。她的一對眼珠子特別綠，綠得驚人。

“Isabel was giving me my wedding dress. I wonder what's happened to it now.It was a peach.We'd arranged that I should pick her up and we'd go to Molyneux's together.I will say this for Isabel, what she doesn't know about clothes isn’t worth knowing.When I got to the apartment their man said she’d had to take Joan to the dentist’s and had left a message that she’d be in directly.I went into the living-room.The coffee things were still on the table and I asked the man if I could have a cup.Coffee was the only thing that kept me going.He said he’d bring me some and took the empty cups and the coffee-pot away.He left a bottle on the tray.I looked at it, and it was that Polish stuff you’d all talked about at the Ritz.”
“伊莎貝爾要送我一件婚禮時穿的衣服，不知現(xiàn)在那件衣服怎么樣了。那件衣服漂亮極了。當(dāng)時說好我去找她，然后我們倆一塊兒去莫利紐克斯服裝店。在這方面，我佩服伊莎貝爾，關(guān)于衣服的知識，沒有她不知道的。我到了她家，管家說她帶瓊?cè)タ囱泪t(yī)了，給我留了話，說她馬上就回來。我走進客廳，見咖啡壺和杯子還放在桌子上，于是便請求管家給我煮一杯咖啡。那時，能提神的只有咖啡了。他說這就為我去煮，走時順手將空咖啡杯和咖啡壺拿走了，盤子里有一瓶酒卻沒有拿走。我看了看，發(fā)現(xiàn)那酒正是你們在里茨飯店熱議的波蘭貨。”

“Zubrovka. I remember Elliott saying he'd send Isabel some.”
“那是齊白露加酒。記得艾略特說要送幾瓶給伊莎貝爾的?！?/p>

“You'd all raved how good it smelt and I was curious. I took out the cork and had a sniff.You were quite right；it smelt damned good.I lit a cigarette and in a few minutes the man came in with the coffee.That was good too.They talk a lot about French coffee, they can have it；give me American coffee.That's the only thing I miss here.But Isabel's coffee wasn't bad, I was feeling lousy, and after I'd had a cup I felt better.I looked at that bottle standing there.It was a terrible temptation, but I said，‘To hell with it, I won’t think of it，’and I lit another cigarette.I thought Isabel would be in any minute, but she didn’t come.I got frightfully nervous；I hate being kept waiting and there was nothing to read in the room.I started walking about and looking at the pictures, but I kept on seeing that damned bottle.Then I thought I’d just pour out a glass and look at it.It had such a pretty colour.”
“你們對那酒贊不絕口，說聞起來賽過仙醪。我起了好奇心，取下瓶塞聞了聞。果真名不虛傳，酒香撲鼻。我點起一支香煙。過了幾分鐘，管家把咖啡送了進來。咖啡的味道也很好。人人都夸法國的咖啡好，那就讓他們喝去吧，反正我還是喜歡美國咖啡。在這異國他鄉(xiāng)，我唯一思念的東西就是美國咖啡了。不過，伊莎貝爾的咖啡還是挺不錯的。我當(dāng)時感覺很糟，一杯咖啡下肚，精神便好了些。我看看桌子上放的那瓶酒，心里像有個饞蟲在拱動。我罵了自己一句，下定決心不受其引誘。我又點起了一支煙，心想伊莎貝爾馬上就會回來的，可是左等右等不見她來。我感到發(fā)毛，坐立不寧。我最怕等人，而屋里連本書都沒有。我走來走去的，欣賞著墻上的畫，眼光卻不停地瞟向那瓶可惡的酒。后來，我想干脆倒一杯出來，欣賞欣賞吧。倒出來一看，那顏色十分漂亮?！?/p>

“Pale green.”
“是淡綠色的。”

“That's right. It's funny, its colour is just like its smell.It's like that green you sometimes see in the heart of a white rose.I had to see if it tasted like that, I thought just a taste couldn't hurt me；I only meant to take a sip and then I heard a sound, I thought it was Isabel coming in and I swallowed the glassful because I didn't want her to catch me.But it wasn’t Isabel after all.Gosh, it made me feel good, I hadn’t felt like that since I’d gone on the wagon.I really began to feel alive again.If Isabel had come in then I suppose I’d be married to Larry now.I wonder how it would have turned out.”
“一點不錯。怪就怪在，它的顏色就跟它的酒香一樣誘人。那種綠色就像你有時候在一朵白玫瑰花心里看見的綠色一樣。我迫切想知道它喝起來是不是味道也同樣誘人，覺得反正品上一口也于我無害。我原打算只呷一口，卻聽見了響動，以為伊莎貝爾回來了，便咕咚將一整杯酒吞下了肚，怕的是被伊莎貝爾瞧見我在喝酒。不過，那不是伊莎貝爾弄出的響動。天呀，一杯酒讓我感到飄飄欲仙。自從戒酒以來，我還從未產(chǎn)生過如此美妙的感覺。我感到周身又充滿了活力。假如伊莎貝爾及時回來，我恐怕已嫁給了拉里。真不知道是禍?zhǔn)歉Ｄ?。?/p>

“And she didn't come in?”
“她沒有回來嗎？”

“No, she didn't. I was furious with her.Who did she think she was, keeping me waiting like that?And then I saw that the liqueur glass was full again；I suppose I must have poured it out without thinking, but, believe it or not, I didn't know I had.It seemed silly to pour it back again, so I drank it.There's no denying it, it was delicious.I felt a different woman；I felt like laughing and I hadn't felt like that for three months.D'you remember that old cissie saying he’d seen fellas in Poland drink it by the tumbler without turning a hair?Well, I thought I could take what any Polish son of a bitch could take and you may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb, so I emptied the dregs of my coffee in the fireplace and filled the cup to the brim.Talk of mother’s milk-my arse.Then I don’t quite know what happened, but I don’t believe there was much left in the bottle by the time I was through.Then I thought I’d get out before Isabel came in.She nearly caught me.Just as I got out of the front door I heard Joanie’s voice.I ran up the stairs and waited till they were safely in the apartment and then I dashed down and got into a taxi.I told the driver to drive like hell and when he asked where to I burst out laughing in his face.I felt like a million dollars.”
是的，沒有回來。我很生氣，覺得她太看不起人，叫我那樣等她。此時，我低頭一瞧，見杯子里又斟滿了酒，心想可能是自己無意中斟上的。信不信由你，我不知道酒是怎么斟滿的。再把酒倒回瓶子里吧，好像怪不值得的，于是我便將它喝了下去。沒得說，那酒簡直就是瓊漿玉液。我喝后覺得自己好像變了個人，直想開懷大笑。三個月來，我從未感到如此愜意過?！澳莻€老家伙曾說波蘭人大杯大杯地喝酒，眼皮都不眨一下，這你還記得嗎？我心想，哼，管它的，狗日的波蘭人能喝，我也能喝。于是，我把剩下的咖啡倒在壁爐里，給杯子里斟酒，斟得滿滿的。管它什么瓊漿玉液不玉液的，喝他娘的！后來的情況我就記不清了，只記得等我罷手時，瓶子里的酒已所剩不多。這時，我覺得三十六計走為上計。這一走，卻差點跟伊莎貝爾撞上。剛出她家的門，我就聽見了瓊的說話聲，于是急忙跑上樓梯。等她們母女進了門，我才連滾帶爬沖下樓，鉆進了一輛出租車。我叫司機趕快把車開走。司機問我到哪兒去，我卻沖著他哈哈大笑不止，覺得自己的行為滑稽到了極點?！?/p>

“Did you go back to your apartment?”I asked, though I knew she hadn't.
“你回你的公寓了嗎？”我這是明知故問，因為我知道她沒有回公寓。

“What sort of a damn fool d'you take me for?I knew Larry would come and look for me. I didn't dare go to any of the places I used to go to, so I went to Hakim's.I knew Larry'd never find me there.Besides, I wanted a smoke.”
“你把我當(dāng)什么傻瓜了吧？我知道拉里會到公寓樓找我的。那些常去的地方，我一個都不敢去，而是到哈基姆那里去了。我知道拉里是絕不會找到那里的。再說，我想過過煙癮呢?！?/p>

“What's Hakim's?”
“哈基姆是個什么地方？”

“Hakim's?Hakim's an Algerian and he can always get you opium if you've got the dough to pay for it. He was quite a friend of mine.He'll get you anything you want, a boy, a man, a woman, or a nigger.He always has half a dozen Algerians on tap.I spent three days there.I don't know how many men I didn’t have.”She began to giggle.“All shapes, sizes, and colours.I made up for lost time all right.But you know, I was scared.I didn’t feel safe in Paris, I was afraid Larry’d find me, besides I hadn’t got any money left, those bastards you have to pay them to go to bed with you, so I got out, I went back to the apartment and gave the concierge a hundred francs and told her if anyone came and asked for me to say I’d gone away.I packed my things and that night I took the train to Toulon.I didn’t feel really safe till I got here.”
“哈基姆嘛，哈基姆是個阿爾及利亞人。在他那里，只要你出得起錢，他就可以給你搞來鴉片。他很夠朋友，要什么人就給你弄來什么人——大人、小孩、女人或者黑人。他手邊總有六七個阿爾及利亞人隨叫隨到。我在那里住了三天，都弄不清自己睡過多少男人了?！闭f到這里，她咯咯一笑，“高的矮的、胖的瘦的、白的黑的，全都有。我要把失去的時間補回來?？墒?，我的內(nèi)心并不踏實，覺得在巴黎不安全，老怕拉里會找到我。而且，我身上的錢都花光了。那些兔崽子，你不給他們錢，他們就不和你上床。所以，我離開哈基姆那里，回到公寓樓，給了看門人一百法郎，讓她見有人來找我，就說我已經(jīng)走了。我當(dāng)下便打點行裝，連夜乘火車來到了土倫。到了這里，我心里的一塊石頭才算落了地?！?/p>

“And have you been here ever since?”
“來了后，你就一直待在這里嗎？”

“You betcha, and I'm going to stay here. You can get all the opium you want, the sailors bring it back from the East, and it's good stuff, not that muck they sell you in Paris.I've got a room at the hotel.You know, the Commerce et la Marine.When you go in there at night the corridors just reek of it.”She sniffed voluptuously.“Sweet and acrid, and you know they're smoking in their rooms, and it gives you a nice homey feeling.And they don't mind who you take in with you.They come and thump at your door at five in the morning to get the sailors up to go back to their ships, so youdon’t have to worry about that.”And then, without transition：“I saw a book of yours in the store just along the quay；if I’d known I was going to see you I’d have bought it and got you to sign it.”
“一點不錯，而且我要繼續(xù)待下去。這兒的鴉片煙要多少有多少，是水手們從東方帶來的，上等貨色，不是他們在巴黎賣給你的那種爛狗屎。我在旅館里包了一個房間——就是那家海事商務(wù)旅館。晚上你走進旅館，過道里全是鴉片煙味?！闭f著，她風(fēng)騷勁十足地嗅了嗅鼻子，“那味道香噴噴的，有點刺鼻。大家各在各的房間里抽鴉片，給你一種賓至如歸的感覺。旅館不干涉你的事，你帶誰回房間都無所謂。他們會在凌晨五點來敲你的門，提醒水手起床歸船，所以你就不用擔(dān)心會誤了行期?！闭f到這里，她話鋒一轉(zhuǎn)，又不停點地說了下去，“我在碼頭邊的書店看見了你的書。早知道要碰見你，我就會買下來，叫你簽個名呢?！?/p>

When passing the bookshop I had stopped to look in the window and had noticed among other new books the translation of a novel of mine that had recently appeared.
剛才路過那家書店，我曾停下來看櫥窗，注意到在一堆新書里面有一本我的小說的法譯本，是新近出版的。

“I don't suppose it would have amused you much，”I said.
“你可能不會多么感興趣的?！蔽艺f道。

“I don't know why it shouldn't. I can read, you know.”
“我不明白你為什么這樣說。我可是會讀的。”

“And you can write too, I believe.”
“恐怕你也會寫呢?！?/p>

She gave me a rapid glance and began to laugh.
她飛了我一眼，隨即爆發(fā)出一串笑聲。

“Yeah, I used to write poetry when I was a kid. I guess it was pretty terrible, but I thought it fine.I suppose Larry told you.”She hesitated for a moment.“Life's hell anyway, but if there is any fun to be got out of it, you're only a god-damn fool if you don't get it.”She threw back her head defiantly.“If I buy that book will you write in it?”
“是的，小時候經(jīng)常寫幾句歪詩?？峙露际切┩盔f之作，但我那時的感覺很好。我想這些是拉里告訴你的?！闭f到此處，她稍微停頓了一下，“生活艱辛，應(yīng)該學(xué)會苦中取樂。有樂不取，就是個大傻瓜。”說著，她倔強地把腦袋朝后一揚，“我把書買來，你能給我簽個名嗎？”

“I'm leaving tomorrow. If you really want it, I'll get you a copy and leave it at your hotel.”
“我明天就走了。你真要的話，我買一本送你，留在你的旅館里?！?/p>

“That'd be swell.”
“那太好了?！?/p>

Just then a naval launch came up to the quay and a crowd of sailors tumbled out of it. Sophie embraced them with a glance.
就在這時，一艘海軍的摩托艇開到了碼頭邊，一群水手爭先恐后上了岸。索菲用眼睛在他們當(dāng)中搜索著。

“That'll be my boy friend.”She waved her arm at someone.“You can stand him a drink and then you better scram. He's a Corsican and as jealous as our old friend Jehovah.”
“那是我的男朋友?！彼蚱渲械囊粋€揮了揮胳臂，“你可以請他喝一杯酒，然后最好離開我們。他是個科西嘉人，和咱們的老朋友耶和華一樣喜歡拈酸吃醋?！?/p>

A young man came up to us, hesitated when he saw me, but on a beckoning gesture came up to the table. He was tall, swarthy, clean-shaven, with splendid dark eyes, an aquiline nose, and raven black, wavy hair.He did not look more than twenty.Sophie introduced me as an American friend of her childhood.
一個年輕人走了過來，看到我，先是遲疑了一下，見索菲向他招手，便來到了我們的桌前。他高高的個子，紫紅臉膛，胡子刮得干干凈凈，黑眼珠神采奕奕，鷹鉤鼻，一頭卷發(fā)烏黑烏黑，看上去還不到二十歲。索菲介紹我時，說我是她童年時代的一個美國朋友。

“Dumb but beautiful，”she said to me.
“他不會說話，但長得漂亮。”索菲用英語對我說。

“You like'em tough, don't you?”
“你喜歡粗野豪放類型的，是不是？”

“The tougher the better.”
“越是粗野豪放越合我的心意?！?/p>

“One of these days you'll get your throat cut.”
“總有一天，你的喉嚨會被他們割斷的?！?/p>

“I wouldn't be surprised，”she grinned.“Good riddance to bad rubbish.”
“這一點也不奇怪?！彼肿煲恍φf，“早死早好。”

“One's going to speak French, isn't one?”the sailor said sharply.
“你們能不能講法語呢？”水手厲聲說。

Sophie turned upon him a smile in which there was a trace of mockery. She spoke a fluent and slangy French, with a strong American accent, but this gave the vulgar and obscene colloquialisms that she commonly used a comic tang, so that you could not help but laugh.
索菲沖他微微一笑，笑容里含著幾分嘲弄，接下來講了一通法語，語調(diào)流暢，夾雜著一些俗語，美國口音很重，但這樣一來，卻使她平日使用的下流猥褻語言帶有一種滑稽腔調(diào)，使人忍俊不禁。

“I was telling him that you were beautiful, but to spare your modesty I was saying it in English.”She addressed me.“And he's strong. He has the muscles of a boxer.Feel them.”
“我在對他講，說你長得漂亮，怕你不好意思，才用的英語?！彪S后，她對我說：“他身體很棒，肌肉發(fā)達得就像個拳擊手。你摸摸看?！?/p>

The sailor's sullenness was dispelled by the flattery and with a complacent smile he flexed his arm so that the biceps stood out.
索菲的一番奉承叫水手怒意頓消。他得意地把胳膊一彎，鼓起胳膊上的二頭肌。

“Feel it，”he said.“Go on, feel it.”
“你摸摸看?！彼f道，“來呀，來摸呀?！?/p>

I did so and expressed a proper admiration. We chatted for a few minutes.I paid for the drinks and got up.
我摸了摸，表示自己羨慕得不得了。我們在一起聊了幾分鐘。之后，我付了酒錢，起身要走。

“I must be going.”
“我得告辭了?！?/p>

“It's nice to have seen you. Don't forget the book.”
“見到你很高興。別忘了那本書?！?/p>

“I won't.”
“不會的。”

I shook hands with them both and strolled off. On my way I stopped at the bookshop, bought the novel, and wrote Sophie's name and my own.Then, because it suddenly occurred to me I could think of nothing else, I wrote the first line of Ronsard's lovely little poem which is in all the anthologies：
我跟他倆握手道別，然后抽身離開了。途中經(jīng)過書店時，買下了那本小說，在書上寫了我和索菲的名字。這時，我突然想起了龍沙那首廣為引用的精美小詩，又想不出別的什么可寫，便將小詩的第一句寫在了書上：

Mignonne, allons voir si la rose……
親愛的，讓我們看看這玫瑰花……

I left it at the hotel. It is on the quay and I have often stayed there because when you are awakened at dawn by theclarion that calls the men on night leave back to duty the sun rising mistily over the smooth water of the harbour invests the wraithlike ships with a shrouded loveliness.Next day we sailed for Cassis, where I wanted to buy some wine, and then to Marseilles to take up a new sail that we had ordered.A week later I got home.
我把書留在了索菲的旅館里。旅館就靠近碼頭，我自己也常住在那里。天麻麻亮，你就會被大喇叭吵醒，叫喚人們快起來上班去；陽光如煙似霧，照在港灣平靜的水面上，給幽靈一般的船只披上了一層美麗的色彩。次日，我們的船揚帆駛往卡西斯。我準(zhǔn)備在那里買些酒，然后到馬賽去，在馬賽再換乘一艘預(yù)訂好的船。一個星期后，我回到了家里。