双语·《刀锋》 第六章 二

CHAPTER SIX 2
第六章 二

That autumn, a couple of months after Elliott's death, I spent a week in Paris on my way to England. Isabel and Gray, after their grim journey to Italy, had returned to Brittany, but were now once more settled in the apartment in the Rue St.Guillaume.She told me the details of his will.He had left a sum of money for Masses to be said for his soul in the church he had built and a further sum for its upkeep.He had bequeathed a handsome amount to the Bishop of Nice to be spent on charitable purposes.He had left me the equivocal legacy of his eighteenth-century pornographic library and a beautiful drawing by Fragonard of a satyr engaged with a nymph on a performance that is usually conducted in private.It was too indecent to hang on my walls and I am not one to gloat upon obscenity in private.He had provided generously for his servants.His two nephews were to have ten thousand dollars each, and the residue of his estate went to Isabel.What this amounted to she did not tell me and I did not inquire；I gathered from her complacency that it was quite a lot of money.
话说那年秋天，在艾略特辞世两个月后，我前往英国，中途在巴黎逗留了一个星期。伊莎贝尔和格雷到意大利奔丧，之后又回到布列塔尼游览，此时已返回圣纪尧姆大街的公寓楼过起了小日子。伊莎贝尔把艾略特遗嘱的内容详细告诉了我，说他留下一笔钱给他造的那座教堂为他的灵魂做弥撒，另外还捐给教堂一笔维持费。他留给尼斯主教一笔数目可观的钱作为慈善捐献，留给我的则是那些意义暧昧的十八世纪的黄色书刊以及弗拉戈纳尔的一幅画，画面非常漂亮。在弗拉戈纳尔的这幅画里，森林之神在和一个女仙子干那种见不得人的事，由于色情味太浓，不便挂在墙上，而我又不是那种喜欢关上门偷看淫情绘画的人。他对家仆们很是大方，留下的钱不少。他的两个外甥各得一万块钱，余下的家产悉数给了伊莎贝尔。到底余下了多少家产，伊莎贝尔只字未提，我也没问。不过，从她心满意足的表情看来，这笔家产一定不是小数目。

For long, ever since he had regained his health, Gray had been impatient to go back to America and get to work again, and though Isabel was comfortable enough in Paris, his restlessness had affected her too. He had for some time been in communication with his friends, but the best opening that presented itself was contingent on his putting in a considerable amount of capital.That he had not got, but Elliott's death had put Isabel in possession of very much more than was needed；and Gray with her approval was starting negotiations with the view, if everything turned out as well as it was presented, of leaving Paris and going to look into the matter for himself.But before that was possible there was much to attend to.They had to come to a reasonable agreement with the French Treasury over the inheritance tax.They had to get rid of the house at Antibes and the apartment in the Rue St.Guillaume.They had to arrange for a sale at the H?tel Drouot of Elliott’s furniture, pictures, and drawings.These were valuable and it seemed wise to wait till spring when the great collectors were likely to be in Paris.Isabel was not sorry to spend another winter there；the children by now could chatter French as easily as they could chatter English and she was glad to let them have a few more months at a French school.They had grown in three years and were now long-legged, skinny, vivacious little creatures, with little at present of their mother’s beauty, but with nice manners and an insatiable curiosity.
格雷自从恢复健康之后，一直都在想着东山再起，急于返回美国重新工作。尽管伊莎贝尔在巴黎的日子过得很滋润，但格雷焦虑的心情也影响到了她。格雷和生意圈里的朋友沟通已有些时日，但真正的契机是他能够拿出一大笔钱作为资本。按说格雷本人是没有钱的，可是，艾略特给伊莎贝尔留下了一大笔遗产，数目远远超过他所需。所以，在取得伊莎贝尔的同意之后，他和那些人进行了谈判；如果一切进展顺利，他将离开巴黎，亲自实地考察。不过，在成行之前，有许多事情都需要料理。首先，他们必须在遗产税方面和法国财政部达成一项合理的协议。其次，需要处理掉安提比斯的别墅以及圣纪尧姆大街的公寓房。接下来，还得在德鲁奥旅馆筹备一次拍卖，处理掉艾略特的那些家具、藏画和素描。这些东西都是价值连城的宝贝，明智之举是等到来年春天再拍卖——那时，大收藏家们将云集巴黎。在巴黎过冬，伊莎贝尔并不觉得遗憾。两个孩子现在法语说得很棒，跟说英语一样流畅。伊莎贝尔倒是很愿意让她们在法国的学校里再上几个月的课。三年来，她们全长高了，长长的腿，瘦瘦的身体，小家伙们个个活泼可爱，虽然目前还没有母亲的那种天姿国色，却很懂礼貌，有着永不满足的好奇心。

So much for that.
当时的情况就是这样。