Chapter 12

第十二章

The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance. There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind. There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

这会儿正是克里舍林荫路最热闹的时刻，只需要发挥一点儿想象力，就能够在过往行人中发现不少庸俗罗曼司中的人物。小职员和女售货员，宛如从巴尔扎克的小说中走出来的老古董，靠着人性的弱点赚钱糊口的一些行当的男女成员。在巴黎的一些贫穷地区，街道上总是人群熙攘，充满无限生机，使你血流激动，随时准备为你演一出意想不到的好戏。

Do you know Paris well? I asked.

“你对巴黎熟悉不熟悉？”我问。

No. We came on our honeymoon. I haven't been since.

“不熟悉。我们度蜜月的时候来过。以后我从来没有再来。”

How on earth did you find out your hotel?

“那你怎么会找到这家旅馆的？”

It was recommended to me. I wanted something cheap.

“别人介绍的。我要找一家便宜的。”

The absinthe came, and with due solemnity we dropped water over the melting sugar.

苦艾酒端上来了，我们一本正经地把水浇在溶化的糖上。

I thought I'd better tell you at once why I had come to see you, I said, not without embarrassment.

“我想我还是坦白对你讲我为什么来找你吧，”我有一些困窘地说。

His eyes twinkled. "I thought somebody would come along sooner or later. I've had a lot of letters from Amy."

他的眼睛闪闪发亮。“我早就想迟早会有个人来的。阿美已经给我写了一大堆信来了。”

Then you know pretty well what I've got to say.

“那么我要对你讲的，不用我说你也知道得很清楚了。”

I've not read them.

“她那些信我都没有看。”

I lit a cigarette to give myself a moment's time. I did not quite know now how to set about my mission. The eloquent phrases I had arranged, pathetic or indignant, seemed out of place on the Avenue de Clichy. Suddenly he gave a chuckle.

我点了一支烟，为了给自己一些思索的时间。我这时候真不知道该怎样办理我承担下的这件差事了。我准备好的一套绝妙词令，哀婉的也罢、愤激的也罢，在克里舍林荫道上以乎都不合拍了。突然，思特里克兰德咯咯地笑起来。

Beastly job for you this, isn't it?

“交给你办的事很叫你头疼，对不对？”

Oh, I don't know, I answered.

“啊，我不知道，”我回答。

Well, look here, you get it over, and then we'll have a jolly evening.

“听我说，你赶快把肚子里的事说出来，以后咱们可以痛快地玩一个晚上。”

I hesitated.

我犹豫不定。

Has it occurred to you that your wife is frightfully unhappy?

“你想到过没有，你的妻子痛苦极了？”

She'll get over it.

“事情会过去的。”

I cannot describe the extraordinary callousness with which he made this reply. It disconcerted me, but I did my best not to show it. I adopted the tone used by my Uncle Henry, a clergyman, when he was asking one of his relatives for a subscription to the Additional Curates Society.

他说这句话的那种冷漠无情我简直无法描摹。我被他这种态度搞得心慌意乱，但是我尽量掩盖着自己。我采用了我的一位亨利叔叔说话的语调；亨利叔叔是个牧师，每逢他请求哪位亲戚给候补副牧师协会捐款的时候总是用这种语调。