双语·《刀锋》 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.
两个星期后，艾略特来到了克拉里奇酒店。他到后不久，我立刻跑去见他。他给自己定做了几套衣服，看到我，便详细地介绍起他选的是什么料子以及出于什么原因，听得我有些不耐烦。最后，我终于找了个空插进话去，问他拉里的婚礼举办得怎么样。

“It didn't go off，”he answered grimly.
“就没有举办成。”他冷冷地说。

“What do you mean?”
“这话是什么意思？”

“Three days before it was to take place Sophie disappeared. Larry hunted everywhere for her.”
“举办婚礼的前三天，索菲失踪了。拉里到处找她。”

“What an extraordinary thing！Did they have a row?”
“怎么会有这怪事！他们吵架了吗？”

“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.”
“没有，没有吵架。当时万事俱备，就等着举行婚礼了。我负责把新娘交给新郎。婚礼之后，他们即刻乘东方快车去度蜜月。要是问起来，我倒觉得这样对拉里更好。”

I guessed that Isabel had told Elliott everything.
我猜想伊莎贝尔把所有的一切都告诉了艾略特。

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

“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.
你肯定记得那天咱们在里茨饭店吃过饭，伊莎贝尔带索菲去了莫利纽克斯服装店。还记得索菲穿的那件衣服吗？简直不能看！你注意那件衣服的肩部了吗？一件衣服剪裁得好不好，全看肩部合不合体。当然喽，莫利纽克斯服装店的衣服，可怜的索菲是买不起的。你也知道伊莎贝尔是个非常慷慨的人，念着她们自小就认识，她提出要送给索菲一件衣服，至少能让索菲在结婚时穿得体面一些。索菲自然高兴得不得了。长话短说，有一天，伊莎贝尔约索菲三点钟到她家里来，二人一同去服装店最后试样。索菲来了，但不幸的是伊莎贝尔要带两个孩子去看牙医，四点钟之后方才回到家，而索菲已经走了。伊莎贝尔以为她等得不耐烦，自己到莫利纽克斯服装店去了，于是急忙往那儿赶，到了那儿才知道索菲压根就没有去。伊莎贝尔只好作罢，又回到了家里。那天，他们约好要在一起吃晚饭的。拉里按时赶来，伊莎贝尔一见他就问索菲在哪里。

“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.”
“拉里被问蒙了，急忙给索菲的住处挂电话，但没人接，于是他说自己要到那儿去看看。吃饭的人等啊等的，始终没见他俩露面，最后只好自己吃了。你们在拉佩街巧遇索菲之前，她过的是什么日子，这你应该是知道的。最为不幸的是，你竟然能想到把他们带到那种地方去。拉里跑了一整夜，把她常去的地方找了个遍，但一无所获。他往她住的公寓楼跑了一趟又一趟，而看门人总说她没有回来。他花了三天的时间马不停蹄地找，而她像人间蒸发了一样。第四天，他又去公寓楼打听，看门人说她回来了一趟，把东西打了一个包，乘出租车走了。”

“Was Larry awfully upset?”
“拉里是不是心里非常难过？”

“I didn't see him. Isabel tells me he was rather.”
“我没见他人，只是听伊莎贝尔说他感到挺难过的。”

“She didn't write or anything?”
“索菲没留下纸条什么的吗？”

“Nothing.”
“什么都没有留。”

I thought it over.
我沉吟良久，最后问道：

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

“My dear fellow, exactly what you make of it. She couldn't stick it out.She went on the booze again.”
“老伙计，恐怕跟你的看法完全一致。她坚持不下来了，又故态复萌，继续过她那种醉生梦死的日子了。”

That was obvious, but for all that it was strange. I couldn't see why she had chosen just that moment to skip.
这是明摆着的事实，可我仍觉得有点蹊跷，不明白她为何偏偏在这个节骨眼上开溜。

“How is Isabel taking it?”
“伊莎贝尔怎样看？”

“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.”
“她当然心里不好受。不过，她是个理智的孩子。她告诉我说，她一直觉得拉里要是娶了那样的女人，一定会是场灾难。”

“And Larry?”
“拉里怎么样啦？”

“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.”
“伊莎贝尔对他体贴入微。她说难就难在他不愿谈及此事。他一定会恢复过来的。伊莎贝尔说他压根就不爱索菲，和她结婚完全是出自于一片侠肝义胆。”

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，遇到这突发事件，伊莎贝尔表现得如此淡定，内心八成会感到幸灾乐祸。我敢肯定，下次见到她，她一定会说早就知道会有这种后果。

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.
不过，再次见到她，差不多是在一年之后了。那时，我本可以陈述索菲事件的利害关系，叫她三思，可是鉴于当时的处境，我没有了这份情绪。我在伦敦一直住到圣诞节前夕，然后直接回到里维埃拉自己家里，中途没有在巴黎停留。我着手写一部小说，这以后的几个月里都过着与世隔绝的生活。对于艾略特倒是时不时见上一面。他的健康显然在不断恶化。尽管如此，他仍坚持参加社交活动，看了让人心痛。他还是一如既往地不断举办宴会，要我驱车三十英里赶去参加，而我却不肯，这叫他很是气恼。他觉得我不喜欢社交，却喜欢待在家里写作，显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.”
“这是一个非凡的季节，让人激动不已，老伙计。”他对我说道，“把自己关在家里闭门谢客，任大好时光白白流淌，简直就是犯罪。你来里维埃拉，偏偏挑了一个死气沉沉的地区居住，我就是活上一百年也弄不懂。”

Poor nice silly Elliott；it was very clear that he would live to no such age.
可怜、善良又有点傻气的艾略特，显然是活不到那把岁数了。

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，小说的初稿已经完成。我觉得自己该休息休息了，于是打起行囊，搭乘一只独桅纵帆船（夏天我们经常乘坐此船去福斯湾洗海水浴），扬起风帆，沿着海岸向马赛驶去。由于海风时起时停，我们的帆船大部分路程都靠备用马达突突突地驱动。中途在戛纳港住了一夜，到了圣马克西姆和萨纳里又各住了一夜，然后就到了土伦。我对土伦港素有好感。港湾里法国舰队的船只让你见了立刻产生一种浪漫和亲切的感觉。在土伦古老的街道上溜达，叫你永远也不会厌倦。我流连于这儿的码头，一待就是好几个小时，观看上岸休假的水兵三三两两地闲逛，有的与女友相依相伴，观看平民百姓迈着悠闲的四方步来来往往，就好像除了享受欢乐的阳光外，世界上再没有其他的事可做了。土伦港水域辽阔，各种轮船和渡船将熙熙攘攘的人群分流到各个码头去，于是你就有了一种印象：此处是终点站，包罗万象，是一个融合了大千世界形形色色特征的地方。当你坐在一家咖啡馆里，眼睛被水色天光弄得有点眼花缭乱时，你的幻想会插上翅膀，带你踏上金色的旅途，到天涯海角去。你幻想着自己坐上一条古老的船，在太平洋上远航，来到一片珊瑚海滩，周围长满了椰子树；你走下舷梯，到了仰光的码头上，坐上一辆黄包车；你幻想着你的船抵达了太子港，停泊在码头旁，你从甲板上望去，看见一群黑人站在码头上，又是欢呼，又是挥手致意。

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.
我们的船是在快到中午的时候抵达的。下午的时间刚过了一半，我上岸沿着码头走去，一边走一边东瞧瞧西看看，看那些店铺，看那些从身边走过的路人，看咖啡馆外边坐在遮阳篷下的客人。突然间，我一眼瞧见了索菲。与此同时，她也看见了我。她嫣然一笑，冲我打了个招呼。我停下来和她握手。她独自坐在一张小桌子旁，面前放一只空玻璃杯。

“Sit down and have a drink，”she said.
“请坐下来喝一杯。”她说道。

“You have one with me，”I replied, taking a chair.
“你也陪我喝吧。”我说着，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.
她上穿一件法国水手的那种蓝白条子海魂衫，下穿一条大红裤子，脚蹬凉鞋，露出几个大脚趾，趾甲盖上涂了红色的指甲油。她没有戴帽子，头发剪得短短的而且烫过，发色是淡金色，近乎银色。她浓妆艳抹，一如当初在拉佩街遇见她时那样。从桌上的小碟可以看出她已经喝过一两杯了，不过并无醉意，好像见到我没有觉得讨厌。

“How are all the folks in Paris?”she asked.
“巴黎的朋友们还好吗？”她问。

“I think they're all right. I haven't seen any of them since that day we all lunched together at the Ritz.”
“也许都好着呢。自从那天咱们一起在里茨饭店吃过午饭之后，我就再没有见过他们。”

She blew a great cloud of smoke from her nostrils and began to laugh.
她从鼻孔里喷出一大股烟，哈哈笑了起来。

“I didn't marry Larry after all.”
“最后我还是没有跟拉里结婚。”

“I know. Why not?”
“这我知道。为什么？”

“Darling, when it came to the point I couldn't see myself being Mary Magdalen to his Jesus Christ. No, sir.”
“亲爱的，事到临头，我觉得自己不是抹大拉的马利亚，不配得到耶稣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关头改变了主意？”

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.
她嬉皮笑脸地望着我，脑袋傲然朝起一扬，小奶子、水蛇腰，再加上她的那身装束，俨然就是个小顽童。不过，必须承认，上次见面时，她一身红装，显得有些俗丽，带几分凄惨，而现在却媚人多了。她的脸和脖子被阳光晒成了紫铜色，而这种肤色令涂了胭脂的脸蛋和抹了睫毛油的眉毛显得分外刺眼——她身上的俗气也不乏妩媚之处。

“Would you like me to tell you?”
“想听我说一说吗？”

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.
我点了点头。此时，侍者把我为自己要的啤酒以及为她要的白兰地和苏打水送了来。她用刚抽完的一根粗丝卷烟的烟屁股又燃起了一根。

“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.”
“那三个月里，我滴酒不沾，一口烟也没有抽过。”她见我露出了诧异的神色，哈哈一笑解释说，“我指的不是纸烟，而是鸦片。那感觉简直是活受罪。有时跟前没人，我就可着嗓门吼叫，能把屋子都震塌。我会对自己说：‘我受不了了，再也受不了了！’和拉里在一起的时候，还不是那么糟糕，而他一旦不在跟前，人间就成了地狱。”

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.
我一直在看着她。当她提到鸦片时，就更加注意打量起她来，发现她的瞳孔缩成针眼一样大，说明她又在吸毒了。她的一对眼珠子特别绿，绿得惊人。

“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.”
“伊莎贝尔要送我一件婚礼时穿的衣服，不知现在那件衣服怎么样了。那件衣服漂亮极了。当时说好我去找她，然后我们俩一块儿去莫利纽克斯服装店。在这方面，我佩服伊莎贝尔，关于衣服的知识，没有她不知道的。我到了她家，管家说她带琼去看牙医了，给我留了话，说她马上就回来。我走进客厅，见咖啡壶和杯子还放在桌子上，于是便请求管家给我煮一杯咖啡。那时，能提神的只有咖啡了。他说这就为我去煮，走时顺手将空咖啡杯和咖啡壶拿走了，盘子里有一瓶酒却没有拿走。我看了看，发现那酒正是你们在里茨饭店热议的波兰货。”

“Zubrovka. I remember Elliott saying he'd send Isabel some.”
“那是齐白露加酒。记得艾略特说要送几瓶给伊莎贝尔的。”

“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.”
“你们对那酒赞不绝口，说闻起来赛过仙醪。我起了好奇心，取下瓶塞闻了闻。果真名不虚传，酒香扑鼻。我点起一支香烟。过了几分钟，管家把咖啡送了进来。咖啡的味道也很好。人人都夸法国的咖啡好，那就让他们喝去吧，反正我还是喜欢美国咖啡。在这异国他乡，我唯一思念的东西就是美国咖啡了。不过，伊莎贝尔的咖啡还是挺不错的。我当时感觉很糟，一杯咖啡下肚，精神便好了些。我看看桌子上放的那瓶酒，心里像有个馋虫在拱动。我骂了自己一句，下定决心不受其引诱。我又点起了一支烟，心想伊莎贝尔马上就会回来的，可是左等右等不见她来。我感到发毛，坐立不宁。我最怕等人，而屋里连本书都没有。我走来走去的，欣赏着墙上的画，眼光却不停地瞟向那瓶可恶的酒。后来，我想干脆倒一杯出来，欣赏欣赏吧。倒出来一看，那颜色十分漂亮。”

“Pale green.”
“是淡绿色的。”

“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.”
“一点不错。怪就怪在，它的颜色就跟它的酒香一样诱人。那种绿色就像你有时候在一朵白玫瑰花心里看见的绿色一样。我迫切想知道它喝起来是不是味道也同样诱人，觉得反正品上一口也于我无害。我原打算只呷一口，却听见了响动，以为伊莎贝尔回来了，便咕咚将一整杯酒吞下了肚，怕的是被伊莎贝尔瞧见我在喝酒。不过，那不是伊莎贝尔弄出的响动。天呀，一杯酒让我感到飘飘欲仙。自从戒酒以来，我还从未产生过如此美妙的感觉。我感到周身又充满了活力。假如伊莎贝尔及时回来，我恐怕已嫁给了拉里。真不知道是祸是福呢。”

“And she didn't come in?”
“她没有回来吗？”

“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，没有回来。我很生气，觉得她太看不起人，叫我那样等她。此时，我低头一瞧，见杯子里又斟满了酒，心想可能是自己无意中斟上的。信不信由你，我不知道酒是怎么斟满的。再把酒倒回瓶子里吧，好像怪不值得的，于是我便将它喝了下去。没得说，那酒简直就是琼浆玉液。我喝后觉得自己好像变了个人，直想开怀大笑。三个月来，我从未感到如此惬意过。“那个老家伙曾说波兰人大杯大杯地喝酒，眼皮都不眨一下，这你还记得吗？我心想，哼，管它的，狗日的波兰人能喝，我也能喝。于是，我把剩下的咖啡倒在壁炉里，给杯子里斟酒，斟得满满的。管它什么琼浆玉液不玉液的，喝他娘的！后来的情况我就记不清了，只记得等我罢手时，瓶子里的酒已所剩不多。这时，我觉得三十六计走为上计。这一走，却差点跟伊莎贝尔撞上。刚出她家的门，我就听见了琼的说话声，于是急忙跑上楼梯。等她们母女进了门，我才连滚带爬冲下楼，钻进了一辆出租车。我叫司机赶快把车开走。司机问我到哪儿去，我却冲着他哈哈大笑不止，觉得自己的行为滑稽到了极点。”

“Did you go back to your apartment?”I asked, though I knew she hadn't.
“你回你的公寓了吗？”我这是明知故问，因为我知道她没有回公寓。

“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.”
“你把我当什么傻瓜了吧？我知道拉里会到公寓楼找我的。那些常去的地方，我一个都不敢去，而是到哈基姆那里去了。我知道拉里是绝不会找到那里的。再说，我想过过烟瘾呢。”

“What's Hakim's?”
“哈基姆是个什么地方？”

“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，哈基姆是个阿尔及利亚人。在他那里，只要你出得起钱，他就可以给你搞来鸦片。他很够朋友，要什么人就给你弄来什么人——大人、小孩、女人或者黑人。他手边总有六七个阿尔及利亚人随叫随到。我在那里住了三天，都弄不清自己睡过多少男人了。”说到这里，她咯咯一笑，“高的矮的、胖的瘦的、白的黑的，全都有。我要把失去的时间补回来。可是，我的内心并不踏实，觉得在巴黎不安全，老怕拉里会找到我。而且，我身上的钱都花光了。那些兔崽子，你不给他们钱，他们就不和你上床。所以，我离开哈基姆那里，回到公寓楼，给了看门人一百法郎，让她见有人来找我，就说我已经走了。我当下便打点行装，连夜乘火车来到了土伦。到了这里，我心里的一块石头才算落了地。”

“And have you been here ever since?”
“来了后，你就一直待在这里吗？”

“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.”
“一点不错，而且我要继续待下去。这儿的鸦片烟要多少有多少，是水手们从东方带来的，上等货色，不是他们在巴黎卖给你的那种烂狗屎。我在旅馆里包了一个房间——就是那家海事商务旅馆。晚上你走进旅馆，过道里全是鸦片烟味。”说着，她风骚劲十足地嗅了嗅鼻子，“那味道香喷喷的，有点刺鼻。大家各在各的房间里抽鸦片，给你一种宾至如归的感觉。旅馆不干涉你的事，你带谁回房间都无所谓。他们会在凌晨五点来敲你的门，提醒水手起床归船，所以你就不用担心会误了行期。”说到这里，她话锋一转，又不停点地说了下去，“我在码头边的书店看见了你的书。早知道要碰见你，我就会买下来，叫你签个名呢。”

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.
刚才路过那家书店，我曾停下来看橱窗，注意到在一堆新书里面有一本我的小说的法译本，是新近出版的。

“I don't suppose it would have amused you much，”I said.
“你可能不会多么感兴趣的。”我说道。

“I don't know why it shouldn't. I can read, you know.”
“我不明白你为什么这样说。我可是会读的。”

“And you can write too, I believe.”
“恐怕你也会写呢。”

She gave me a rapid glance and began to laugh.
她飞了我一眼，随即爆发出一串笑声。

“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，小时候经常写几句歪诗。恐怕都是些涂鸦之作，但我那时的感觉很好。我想这些是拉里告诉你的。”说到此处，她稍微停顿了一下，“生活艰辛，应该学会苦中取乐。有乐不取，就是个大傻瓜。”说着，她倔强地把脑袋朝后一扬，“我把书买来，你能给我签个名吗？”

“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。你真要的话，我买一本送你，留在你的旅馆里。”

“That'd be swell.”
“那太好了。”

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.
就在这时，一艘海军的摩托艇开到了码头边，一群水手争先恐后上了岸。索菲用眼睛在他们当中搜索着。

“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。”她向其中的一个挥了挥胳臂，“你可以请他喝一杯酒，然后最好离开我们。他是个科西嘉人，和咱们的老朋友耶和华一样喜欢拈酸吃醋。”

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.
一个年轻人走了过来，看到我，先是迟疑了一下，见索菲向他招手，便来到了我们的桌前。他高高的个子，紫红脸膛，胡子刮得干干净净，黑眼珠神采奕奕，鹰钩鼻，一头卷发乌黑乌黑，看上去还不到二十岁。索菲介绍我时，说我是她童年时代的一个美国朋友。

“Dumb but beautiful，”she said to me.
“他不会说话，但长得漂亮。”索菲用英语对我说。

“You like'em tough, don't you?”
“你喜欢粗野豪放类型的，是不是？”

“The tougher the better.”
“越是粗野豪放越合我的心意。”

“One of these days you'll get your throat cut.”
“总有一天，你的喉咙会被他们割断的。”

“I wouldn't be surprised，”she grinned.“Good riddance to bad rubbish.”
“这一点也不奇怪。”她咧嘴一笑说，“早死早好。”

“One's going to speak French, isn't one?”the sailor said sharply.
“你们能不能讲法语呢？”水手厉声说。

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.
索菲冲他微微一笑，笑容里含着几分嘲弄，接下来讲了一通法语，语调流畅，夹杂着一些俗语，美国口音很重，但这样一来，却使她平日使用的下流猥亵语言带有一种滑稽腔调，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.”
“我在对他讲，说你长得漂亮，怕你不好意思，才用的英语。”随后，她对我说：“他身体很棒，肌肉发达得就像个拳击手。你摸摸看。”

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顿消。他得意地把胳膊一弯，鼓起胳膊上的二头肌。

“Feel it，”he said.“Go on, feel it.”
“你摸摸看。”他说道，“来呀，来摸呀。”

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，表示自己羡慕得不得了。我们在一起聊了几分钟。之后，我付了酒钱，起身要走。

“I must be going.”
“我得告辞了。”

“It's nice to have seen you. Don't forget the book.”
“见到你很高兴。别忘了那本书。”

“I won't.”
“不会的。”

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：
我跟他俩握手道别，然后抽身离开了。途中经过书店时，买下了那本小说，在书上写了我和索菲的名字。这时，我突然想起了龙沙那首广为引用的精美小诗，又想不出别的什么可写，便将小诗的第一句写在了书上：

Mignonne, allons voir si la rose……
亲爱的，让我们看看这玫瑰花……

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.
我把书留在了索菲的旅馆里。旅馆就靠近码头，我自己也常住在那里。天麻麻亮，你就会被大喇叭吵醒，叫唤人们快起来上班去；阳光如烟似雾，照在港湾平静的水面上，给幽灵一般的船只披上了一层美丽的色彩。次日，我们的船扬帆驶往卡西斯。我准备在那里买些酒，然后到马赛去，在马赛再换乘一艘预订好的船。一个星期后，我回到了家里。