Non so piu cosa son, Cosa facio.

MOZART (Figaro)

我不再知道我是谁,我在做什么了。

莫扎特《费加罗》

With the vivacity and grace which came naturally to her when she was beyond the reach of male vision, Madame de Renal was coming out through the glass door which opened from the drawing-room into the garden, when she saw, standing by the front door, a young peasant, almost a boy still, extremely pale and showing traces of recent tears. He was wearing a clean white shirt and carried under his arm a neat jacket of violet ratteen.

德·莱纳夫人瞥见大门口有一张年轻的乡下人的脸,就从客厅开向花园的落地长窗走出来,活泼而优雅,没有丝毫的做作,像她平常远离男人的目光时一样。那乡下人几乎还是个孩子,脸色极苍白,刚刚哭过。他身着雪白的衬衫,臂下挟着一件很干净的紫色平纹格子花呢上衣。

This young peasant's skin was so white, his eyes were so appealing,that the somewhat romantic mind of Madame de Renal conceived the idea at first that he might be a girl in disguise, come to ask some favour of the Mayor. She felt sorry for the poor creature, who had come to a standstill by the front door, and evidently could not summon up courage to ring the bell. Madame de Renal advanced, oblivious for the moment of the bitter grief that she felt at the tutor's coming. Julien, who was facing the door, did not see her approach. He trembled when a pleasant voice sounded close to his ear:

这个小乡下人面色那么白,眼睛那么温柔,有点儿浪漫精神的德·莱纳夫人开始还以为可能是一个女扮男装的姑娘,来向市长先生求什么恩典的。她同情这个可怜的小家伙,他站在门口不动,显然是不敢抬手按门铃。她走过去,暂时排解了家庭教师的到来所引起的悲伤和忧愁。于连面对着大门,没有看见她走过来。他听见耳畔有温柔的话音响起,不由地打了个哆嗦:

'What have you come for, my boy?'

“您到这儿来干什么,我的孩子?”

Julien turned sharply round, and, struck by the charm of Madame de Renal's expression, forgot part of his shyness. A moment later, astounded by her beauty, he forgot everything, even his purpose in coming.

于连猛地转过身,德·莱纳夫人的温情脉脉的目光打动了他,他不那么胆怯了。很快,他惊异于她的美,就把什么都忘了,甚至把他来干什么也忘了。

Madame de Renal had repeated her question.

德·莱纳夫人又问了一遍。

'I have come to be tutor, Madame,' he at length informed her, put to shame by his tears which he dried as best he might.

“我来当家庭教师,夫人,”他终于说,对自己的眼泪感到很不好意思,尽量揩干净。

Madame de Renal remained speechless; they were standing close together, looking at one another. Julien had never seen a person so well-dressed as this, let alone a woman with so exquisite a complexion, to speak to him in a gentle tone. Madame de Renal looked at the large tears which lingered on the cheeks (so pallid at first and now so rosy) of this young peasant. Presently she burst out laughing, with all the wild hilarity of a girl; she was laughing at herself, and trying in vain to realise the full extent of her happiness. So this was the tutor whom she had imagined an unwashed and ill-dressed priest, who was coming to scold and whip her children.

德·莱纳夫人愣住了,他们互相望着,离得很近。于连从未见过穿得这么好的人,尤其是一个如此光艳照人的女人,而且还用一种温柔的口吻跟他说话。德·莱纳夫人望着他颊上的大颗泪珠,这年轻的乡下人的脸刚才还那么苍白,现在却变得那么红润。很快,她笑了起来,小姑娘般疯也似地快话,她笑自已,想不出自己有多幸福。怎么,这就是家庭教师,这就是她想象中的那个来训斥和鞭打她的孩子们的衣冠不整的肮脏教士!

'Why, Sir!' she said to him at length, 'do you know Latin?'The word 'Sir' came as such a surprise to Julien that he thought for a moment before answering.

“怎么,先生,”她终于开口,“您会拉丁文?”“先生”这个词使于连大为惊讶,他想了片刻。

'Yes, Ma'am,' he said shyly.

“是的,夫人,”他怯生生地回答。

Madame de Renal felt so happy that she ventured to say to Julien:

德·莱纳夫人真是喜出望外,大着胆子问于连:

'You won't scold those poor children too severely?'

“您不会过分地责骂这些可怜的孩子吧?”

'Scold them? I?' asked Julien in amazement. 'Why should I?'

“我,责骂他们,”于连感到奇怪,“为什么?”

'You will, Sir,' she went on after a brief silence and in a voice that grew more emotional every moment, 'you will be kind to them, you promise me?'

“您会对他们很温和,是吗,先生?”她停了—会儿,说话声越来越激动,“您答应我吗?”

To hear himself addressed again as 'Sir', in all seriousness, and by a lady so fashionably attired, was more than Julien had ever dreamed of; in all the cloud castles of his boyhood, he had told himself that no fashionable lady would deign to speak to him until he had a smart uniform.

听见又一次被郑重其事地称作先生,而且出自—位穿得如此讲究的夫人之口,这是于连万万没有想到的,他少年时想入非非,对自已说,只有穿上漂亮的军装,体面的太太才肯跟他说话。

Madame de Renal, for her part, was completely taken in by the beauty of Julien's complexion, his great dark eyes and his becoming hair which was curling more than usual because, to cool himself, he had just dipped his head in the basin of the public fountain.

德·莱纳夫人呢,她完全被于连好看的面色,大而黑的眼睛迷惑了,还有他那漂亮的头发比平时更加卷曲,因为他为了凉快,刚刚在公共水池中浸过。

To her great delight, she discovered an air of girlish shyness in this fatal tutor, whose severity and savage appearance she had so greatly dreaded for her children's sake. To Madame de Renal's peace-loving nature the contrast between her fears and what she now saw before her was a great event. Finally she recovered from her surprise. She was astonished to find herself standing like this at the door of her house with this young man almost in his shirt-sleeves and so close to her.

她高兴极了,这个不祥的家庭教师居然神情羞怯如年轻的站娘,而她却曾经为孩子们那样地担惊受怕,以为他必是心肠冷酷,面目可憎。德·莱纳夫人的心灵一向那样地平静,这种恐惧和所见之间的对照对她来说真是非同小可。她感到惊讶,她竟和这年轻人这样地站在自家的门口,他几乎只穿着衬衣,而她又离他这样近。

'Let us go indoors, Sir,' she said to him with an air of distinct embarrassment.Never in her life had a purely agreeable sensation so profoundly stirred Madame de Renal; never had so charming an apparition come in the wake of more disturbing fears. And so those sweet children, whom she had tended with such care, were not to fall into the hands of a dirty,growling priest. As soon as they were in the hall, she turned to Julien who was following her shyly. His air of surprise at the sight of so fine a house was an additional charm in the eyes of Madame de Renal. She could not believe her eyes; what she felt most of all was that the tutor ought to be wearing a black coat.

“我们进去吧,先生,”她对他说,神色挺尴尬。从未有一种纯粹是令人愉快的感觉如此深地打动过德·莱纳夫人的心,也从未有一种如此亲切的景象紧接着揪心的恐惧出现在她的面前。这下好了,她精心照料的这些漂亮孩子不会落入一个肮脏阴郁的教士之手了。刚一进前厅,她回头看了看于连,他正怯生生地跟着呢。于连看见一幢如此漂亮的房子时的惊讶表情,在德·莱纳夫人的眼中又添了一个可爱之处。她简直不能相信自己的眼睛了,她特别觉得一个家庭教师应该穿黑色的衣服。

'But is it true, Sir,' she said to him, again coming to a halt, and mortally afraid lest she might be mistaken, so happy was the belief making her,'do you really know Latin?'

“可是,这是真的吗,先生,”她停下来回他,“您真地会拉丁文吗?”她若是确信无疑,会使她多么地幸福啊,她真怕自己弄错了。

These words hurt Julien's pride and destroyed the enchantment in which he had been living for the last quarter of an hour.

这句话刺伤了于连的自尊心,一刻钟以来的陶醉顿时烟消云散。

'Yes, Ma'am,' he informed her, trying to adopt a chilly air; 'I know Latin as well as M. le cure; indeed, he is sometimes so kind as to say that I know it better.'

“是的,夫人,”他说,竭力作出冷冰冰的样子,“我的拉丁文和神甫先生的一样好,甚至有时候他还肯说我比他强呢。”

Madame de Renal felt that Julien had a very wicked air; he had stopped within arm's length of her. She went nearer to him, and murmured:

德·莱纳夫人发现于连的表情很凶恶,他早就在距她两步远的地方停住了。她走近他,低声说:

'For the first few days, you won't take the whip to my children, even if they don't know their lessons?'

“开头的几天,您是不是别用鞭子抽我的孩子,哪怕他们的功课不好?”

This gentle, almost beseeching tone coming from so fine a lady at once made Julien forget what he owed to his reputation as a Latin scholar.

一位如此漂亮的夫人的如此温柔、近乎哀求的口吻一下子打掉了于连作为优秀的拉丁语学者的傲气。

Madame de Renal's face was close to his own, he could smell the perfume of a woman's summer attire, so astounding a thing to a poor peasant. Julien blushed deeply, and said with a sigh and in a faint voice:

德·莱纳夫人的脸挨近他的脸,他闻到了一个女人的夏装的香气,这对—个穷乡下人来说并非一件寻常的事。于连的脸涨得通红,叹了口气,呻吟似地说:

'Fear nothing, Ma'am, I shall obey you in every respect.'

“您别害怕,夫人,我一切听您吩咐。”

It was at this moment only, when her anxiety for her children was completely banished, that Madame de Renal was struck by Julien's extreme good looks. The almost feminine cast of his features and his air of embarrassment did not seem in the least absurd to a woman who was extremely timid herself. The manly air which is generally considered essential to masculine beauty would have frightened her.

德·莱纳夫人对孩子们的担心完全消除了,只是在这个时候,她才注意到于连的不寻常的美。他那近乎女性的容貌和困窘的神态,对一个自己就十分腼腆的女人来说,并不显得可笑。—般人认为男性美所必备的那种阳刚之气反倒教她害怕。

'How old are you, Sir?' she asked Julien.

'I shall soon be nineteen.'

'My eldest son is eleven,' went on Madame de Renal, completely reassured; 'he will be almost a companion for you, you can talk to him seriously. His father tried to beat him once, the child was ill for a whole week, and yet it was quite a gentle blow.'

“您多大了,先生?”她问于连。

“很快就十九岁了。”

“我的大儿子十一岁,”德·莱纳夫人完全放心了,“差不多可以做您的朋友呢,您可以跟他讲道理。有一次他父亲要打他,他就足足病了一个星期、其实只是轻轻的一下,”

'How different from me,' thought Julien. 'Only yesterday my father was thrashing me. How fortunate these rich people are!'

“这跟我多么地不同啊,”于连想,“昨天我父亲还打了我呢。这些有钱人多幸福啊!”

Madame de Renal had by this time arrived at the stage of remarking the most trivial changes in the state of the tutor's mind; she mistook this envious impulse for shyness, and tried to give him fresh courage.

德·莱纳夫人已经能够看出这位家庭教师内心中所发生的最细微的变化,她把这种突然的悲伤当成了胆怯,想给他一点儿勇气。

'What is your name, Sir?' she asked him with an accent and a grace the charm of which Julien could feel without knowing whence it sprang.

“您叫什么名字,先生?”她问,那声调,那风度,于连都能感到其全部的魅力,然而是何原因,他就茫然了。

'They call me Julien Sorel, Ma'am; I am trembling as I enter a strange house for the first time in my life; I have need of your protection, and shall require you to forgive me many things at first. I have never been to College, I was too poor; I have never talked to any other men, except my cousin the Surgeon-Major, a Member of the Legion of Honour, and the Reverend Father Chelan. He will give you a good account of me. My brothers have always beaten me, do not listen to them if they speak evil of me to you; pardon my faults, Ma'am, I shall never have any evil intention.'

“我家叫我于连·索莱尔,夫人。我生平第一次进入陌生人的家,心里害怕,我需要您的保护,开头几天有好多事情您得多加原谅。我从未进过学校,我太穷了;除了我的表亲外科军医,他是荣誉团成员,和谢朗神甫先生之外,我没跟任何人说过话。神甫先生可以向您证明我的人品。我的哥哥们经常打我,如果他们跟您说我的坏话,您不要相信,如果我做错了事,请您原谅,夫人,我绝不会有不好的意图。”

Julien plucked up his courage again during this long speech; he was studying Madame de Renal. Such is the effect of perfect grace when it is natural to the character, particularly when she whom it adorns has no thought of being graceful. Julien, who knew all that was to be known about feminine beauty, would have sworn at that moment that she was no more than twenty. The bold idea at once occurred to him of kissing her hand. Next, this idea frightened him; a moment later, he said to himself: 'It would be cowardly on my part not to carry out an action which may be of use to me, and diminish the scorn which this fine lady probably feels for a poor workman, only just taken from the sawbench.' Perhaps Julien was somewhat encouraged by the words 'good-looking boy' which for the last six months he had been used to hearing on Sundays on the lips of various girls. While he debated thus with himself, Madame de Renal offered him a few suggestions as to how he should begin to handle her children. The violence of Julien's effort to control himself made him turn quite pale again; he said, with an air of constraint:

这段话很长,他说着说着心里就有了底,他在仔细观察德·莱纳夫人。这就是完美的风度的效果,当风度乃本性天成的时候,尤其是有风度的人没有想到有风度的时候,就会有这种效果,于连对女性美是个内行,这个时候他会发誓说她只有二十岁。他突然生出一个大胆的念头,要吻她的手。他很快就害怕了,过了一会儿,他心想:“一个可能对我有用的行动,一个可能减少这位美丽的太太多半会对一个刚刚离开锯木厂的可怜工人所怀有的轻蔑的行动,我若不去完成,那我就是个懦夫。”于连也许多少受到“漂亮小伙子”这个词的鼓舞,近半年来,他每礼拜日都听见一些女孩子这样说他。他的内心斗争不已,德·莱纳夫人跟他说了二、三句话,告诉他开始时如何对待这些孩子。于连极力克制,脸色又变得苍白,很不自然地说道:

'Never, Ma'am, will I beat your children; I swear it before God.'

“夫人,我绝不会打您的孩子,我在天主面前发誓。”

And so saying he ventured to take Madame de Renal's hand and carry it to his lips. She was astonished at this action, and, on thinking it over,shocked. As the weather was very warm, her arm was completely bare under her shawl, and Julien's action in raising her hand to his lips had uncovered it to the shoulder. A minute later she scolded herself; she felt that she had not been quickly enough offended.

他一边说,一边大着胆子抓住德·莱纳夫人的手,拉到唇边。她对这举动吃了一惊,想了想,又觉得受到了冒犯。天气很热,她的胳膊光光的,只盖着披肩,于连把她的手拉到唇边的动作使她的胳膊完全暴露出来,过了一会儿,她责备起自己来了,她觉得她的气愤来得不够快。

M. de Renal, who had heard the sound of voices, came out of his study; with the same majestic and fatherly air that he assumed when he was conducting marriages in the Town Hall, he said to Julien:

德·莱纳先生听见有人说话,就从工作间里出来,用他在市政厅主持婚礼时的那种既庄严又慈祥的语气对于连说:“我必须在孩子们见到您之前跟您谈一谈。”

'It is essential that I speak to you before the children see you.'He ushered Julien into one of the rooms and detained his wife, who was going to leave them together. Having shut the door, M. de Renal seated himself with gravity.

他让于连进入一个房间,他的妻子想让他们单独谈话,但被他留住了。德·莱纳先生把门关上,坐下,态度很严肃。

'The cure has told me that you were an honest fellow, everyone in this house will treat you with respect, and if I am satisfied I shall help you to set up for yourself later on. I wish you to cease to see anything of either your family or your friends, their tone would not be suited to my children. Here are thirty-six francs for the first month; but I must have your word that you will not give a penny of this money to your father.'

“本堂神甫先生对我说您是一个品行端正的人,这里的人都会尊敬您的,如果我感到满意,我会帮助您谋个小小的前程。我要求您不再和亲戚以及朋友见面,他们的举止谈吐对我的孩子是不适宜的。这是第一个月的三十六法郎,但您要向我保证不给您父亲一个子儿。”

M. de Renal was annoyed with the old man, who, in this business, had proved more subtle than he himself.

德·莱纳先生对那老头儿很恼火,因为在这笔交易中,那老头儿比他更精明。

'And now, Sir, for by my orders everyone in this house is to address you as Sir, and you will be conscious of the advantage of entering a well ordered household; now, Sir, it is not proper that the children should see you in a jacket. Have the servants seen him?' M. de Renal asked his wife.

“现在,先生,根据我的命令,这里的人都要称您先生,您将感到进入一个体面人家的好处。现在,先生,您还穿着短上衣,这让孩子们看见是很不成体统的。仆人们看见他了吗?”德·莱纳先生问妻子。

'No, dear,' she replied with an air of deep thought.'

“还没有,我的朋友,”她答道,还沉浸在冥想中。

'Good. Put on this,' he said to the astonished young man, handing him one of his own frock coats. 'And now let us go to M. Durand, the clothier.'

“太好了。穿上这件吧,”他对感到惊讶的年轻人说,把自己的一件礼服递给他。“我们现在到呢绒商杜朗先生那儿去吧。”

More than an hour later, when M. de Renal returned with the new tutor dressed all in black, he found his wife still seated in the same place.She felt soothed by Julien's presence; as she studied his appearance she forgot to feel afraid. Julien was not giving her a thought; for all his mistrust of destiny and of mankind, his heart at that moment was just like a child's; he seemed to have lived whole years since the moment when,three hours earlier, he stood trembling in the church. He noticed Madame de Renal's frigid manner, and gathered that she was angry because he had ventured to kiss her hand. But the sense of pride that he derived from the contact of garments so different from those which he was accustomed to wear caused him so much excitement, and he was so anxious to conceal his joy that all his gestures were more or less abrupt and foolish.

一小时以后,德·莱纳先生带着一身黑的新家庭教师回来了,他看见妻子还坐在老地方。有于连在,德·莱纳夫人感到心里平静了,她端详着他,忘记了害怕。于连可压根儿没想到她,尽管他对命运和人都不信任,此刻他的心情究竟还只是一个孩子的心情,他觉得打从他在教堂里发抖那一刻起,三个钟头以来,他已经生活了好几年了。他注意到德·莱纳夫人的冰冷的神情,知道她还在为他竟敢吻她的手而生气。然而,穿上一套与从前如此不同的衣服所产生的自豪感使他忘乎所以,他真想掩饰自己的快乐,却一举一动都露出生硬和狂乱。

Madame de Renal gazed at him with eyes of astonishment.

德·莱纳夫人望着他,吃惊地睁大了眼睛。

'A little gravity, Sir,' M. de Renal told him, 'if you wish to be respected by my children and my servants.'

“庄重点,先生,”德·莱纳先生说,“假使您想获得我的孩子和我的下人的尊敬。”

'Sir,' replied Julien, 'I am uncomfortable in these new clothes; I, a humble peasant, have never worn any but short jackets; with your permission, I shall retire to my bedroom.'

“先生,”于连答道,“我穿着这身新衣服感到很不自在;我是个穷乡下人,我从来只穿短上衣;如果您允许,我去自己的房间了。”

'What think you of this new acquisition?' M. de Renal asked his wife.

“你觉得这个新收获怎么样?”德·莱纳先生问他的妻子。

With an almost instinctive impulse, of which she herself certainly was not aware, Madame de Renal concealed the truth from her husband.

德·莱纳夫人心中一动,几乎出于一种她自已肯定不曾意识到的本能,向她的丈夫隐瞒了真情。

'I am by no means as enchanted as you are with this little peasant;your kindness will turn him into an impertinent rascal whom you will be obliged to send packing within a month.'

“对这个小乡下人,我可不像您那么高兴,您的殷勤将使他变成一个傲慢无礼的人,不出一个月您就得打发他走。”

'Very well! We shall send him packing; he will have cost me a hundred francs or so, and Verrieres will have grown used to seeing a tutor with M. de Renal's children. That point I should not have gained if I had let Julien remain in the clothes of a working man. When I dismiss him, I shall of course keep the black suit which I have just ordered from the clothier. He shall have nothing but the coat I found ready made at the tailor's, which he is now wearing.'

“好吧,那我们就打发他走,这不过破费我百把法郎,可维里埃城将习惯于看见德·莱纳先生的孩子有一位家庭教师。如果我让于连仍旧一身工人打扮,这个目的就根本达不到。打发他走的时候,我当然要留下我刚刚在呢绒商那儿做的这套黑衣服。他只能拿走我刚刚在裁缝那儿买的成衣,就是我让他穿的那一套。”

The hour which Julien spent in his room seemed like a second to Madame de Renal. The children, who had been told of their new tutor's arrival, overwhelmed their mother with questions. Finally Julien appeared.

德·莱纳夫人觉得于连在房间里只待了一小会儿。孩子们听说家庭教师来了,围着她问个不停。终于,于连出来了。

He was another man. It would have been straining the word to say that he was grave; he was gravity incarnate. He was introduced to the children, and spoke to them with an air that surprised M. de Renal himself.

简直是换了一个人。说他庄重还不对,他真真是庄重的化身。他被介绍给孩子们,他跟他们说话的态度连德·莱纳先生都感到惊讶。

'I am here, young gentlemen,' he told them at the end of his address,'to teach you Latin. You know what is meant by repeating a lesson. Here is the Holy Bible,' he said, and showed them a tiny volume in 32mo,bound in black. 'It is in particular the story of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that is the part which is called the New Testament. I shall often make you repeat lessons; now you must make me repeat mine.'

“先生们,我来到这里,”他在结束讲话时说,“是为了教你们拉丁文。你们当然知道背书是怎么回事。这是《圣经》,”他说,指给他们看一本三十二开黑面精装的小书,“特别是我主耶稣的故事,就是大家称为《新约》的那部分。我要常常让你们背诵,你们让我来背背看。”

Adolphe, the eldest boy, had taken the book.

最大的那个孩子阿道夫拿起书。

'Open it where you please,' Julien went on, 'and tell me the first word of a paragraph. I shall repeat by heart the sacred text, the rule of conduct for us all, until you stop me.'

“请您随便翻开,”于连继续说,“找一段,把第一个字告诉我。我就把这本圣书,我们的行为准则,背下去,直到您让我停止。”

Adolphe opened the book, read a word, and Julien repeated the whole page as easily as though he were speaking French. M. de Renal looked at his wife with an air of triumph. The children, seeing their parents' amazement, opened their eyes wide. A servant came to the door of the drawing-room, Julien went on speaking in Latin. The servant at first stood motionless and then vanished. Presently the lady's maid and the cook appeared in the doorway; by this time Adolphe had opened the book at eight different places, and Julien continued to repeat the words with the same ease.

阿道夫打开书,念出一个字,于连就背下一整页,像他说法国话一样流利。德·莱纳先生望着他的妻子,好不得意。孩子们看到他们父母的惊讶表情,也都一个个睁大了眼睛。一个仆人走到客厅门口,于连还在说拉丁文。这仆人先是呆立不动,随即不见了。很快,夫人的女仆和女厨子来到门旁,这时,阿道夫已经把书翻了八个地方,于连总是背得那么流利。

'Eh, what a bonny little priest,' the cook, a good and truly devout girl,said aloud.

“啊,我的天主:这小教士好漂亮,”女厨子高声说道,她是个极虔诚的好姑娘。

M. de Renal's self-esteem was troubled; so far from having any thought of examining the tutor, he was engaged in ransacking his memory for a few words of Latin; at last, he managed to quote a line of Horace. Julien knew no Latin apart from the Bible. He replied with afrown:

德·莱纳先生的自尊心动摇了,他不再想如何考察家庭教师,而是一门心思在记忆中翻腾,想找出几句拉丁文来;终于,他好不容易念出一句贺拉斯的诗。于连只知道《圣经》,就皱着眉头说:

'The sacred ministry to which I intend to devote myself has forbidden me to read so profane a poet.'

“我所献身的圣职禁止我读一位如此世俗的诗人。”

M. de Renal repeated a fair number of alleged lines of Horace. He explained to his children what Horace was; but the children, overcome with admiration, paid little attention to what he was saying. They were watching Julien.

德·莱纳先生背了不少所谓贺拉斯的诗。他向孩子们解释谁是贺拉斯,但是孩子们已对于连佩服得要命,对父亲的话没听进几句。他们眼睁睁地望着于连。

The servants being still at the door, Julien felt it incumbent upon him to prolong the test.

仆人们一直站在门口,于连认为应该让考验继续下去。

'And now,' he said to the youngest boy, 'Master Stanislas Xavier too must set me a passage from the Holy Book.'

“斯坦尼斯拉-克萨维埃先生也该在圣书中指一段,”他对最小的孩子说。

Little Stanislas, swelling with pride, read out to the best of his ability the opening words of a paragraph, and Julien repeated the whole page.

小斯坦尼斯拉很得意,好歹总算念出了某一行的第一个字,于连紧接着背出了一整页。

That nothing might be wanting to complete M. de Renal's triumph, while Julien was reciting, there entered M. Valenod, the possessor of fine Norman horses, and M. Charcot de Maugiron, Sub-Prefect of the district. This scene earned for Julien the title 'Sir'; the servants themselves dared not withhold it from him.

合该德·莱纳先生大获全胜,正当于连倒背如流之际,诺曼底骏马的拥有者瓦勒诺先生和专区区长夏尔科·德·莫吉隆先生进来了。这个场面为于连赢得了先生的称呼,仆人们也不敢不这样称呼他了。

That evening, the whole of Verrieres flocked to M. de Renal's to behold the marvel. Julien answered them all with an air of gloom which kept them at a distance. His fame spread so rapidly through the town that,shortly afterwards, M. de Renal, afraid of losing him, suggested his signing a contract for two years.

市长先生家里来了个奇才,当晚满城争睹,络绎不绝。于连沉着脸,不冷不热地一一应付过去。他的声名在城中迅速传播,几天之后,德·莱纳先生怕他被抢走,向他提出签订两年的合同。

'No, Sir,' Julien replied coldly, 'if you chose to dismiss me I should be obliged to go. A contract which binds me without putting you under any obligation is unfair, I must decline.'

“不行,先生,”于连冷冷地回答,“您要辞退我,我不得不走。一份合同拴住了我,您却不承担任何义务,这不平等,我不能接受。”

Julien managed so skilfully that, less than a month after his coming to the house, M. de Renal himself respected him. The cure having quarrelled with M. de Renal and Valenod, there was no one who could betray Julien's former passion for Napoleon, of whom he was careful to speak with horror.

于连真行,来此不足一个月,连德·莱纳先生本人都敬重他了。本堂神甫已与德·莱纳先生和瓦勒诺先生闹翻,无人再能泄露于连往日对拿破仑的激情,他此后每谈及这个人,深恶痛绝之情都溢于言表。