Absurd and touching memory: one's first appearance, at eighteen, alone and unsupported, in a drawing-room! A glance from a woman was enough to terrify me. The more I tried to shine, the more awkward I became. I formed the most false ideas of everything; either I surrendered myself for no reason, or I saw an enemy in a man because he had looked at me with a serious expression. But then, amid all the fearful sufferings of my shyness, how fine was a fine day!
KANT
可笑而感人的回忆：在十八岁上，孤零零无依无靠地出现在头一个客厅啊！一个女人的眼光就足以使我惊慌失措。我越是想讨人喜欢，越是变得笨拙。我对一切形成了最错误的看法；要么我无缘无故地轻易依赖别人，要么我把一个人看成是敌人，因为他用严肃的眼光看了我。可是那时候，在我的羞怯造成的那些可怕的不幸中间，一个美好的日子是多么美好啊！
康德
Julien stopped in confusion in the middle of the courtyard.
于连在院子当中停下，惊讶得目瞪口呆。
'Do assume a reasonable air,' said the Abbe Picard; 'you take hold of horrible ideas, and you are only a boy! Where is the nil mirari of Horace?' (That is: no enthusiasm.) 'Reflect that this tribe of flunkeys, seeing you established here, will try to make a fool of you; they will regard you as an equal, unjustly set over them. Beneath a show of good nature, of good advice, of a wish to guide you, they will try to catch you out in some stupid blunder.'
“别那么大惊小怪的，”彼拉神甫说；“您有些可怕的念头，而您不过是个孩子，贺拉斯的nilmirari（决不动心）哪里去了？想想吧，这些仆人看见您住在这儿，会千方百计地取笑您的，他们把您看作同等之人，却被不公正地置于他们之上。他们表面上温厚，帮您出主意，乐意指点您，暗里却设法放您干个大蠢事栽个大跟头。”
'I defy them to do so,' said Julien, biting his lip; and he recovered all his former distrust.
“他们敢，”于连说，紧咬着嘴唇，又完全恢复了他的不信任。
The drawing-rooms through which our friends passed on the first floor, before coming to the Marquis's study, would have seemed to you, gentle reader, as depressing as they were magnificent. Had you been made a present of them as they stood, you would have refused to live in them; they are the native heath of boredom and dreary argument. They redoubled Julien's enchantment. 'How can anyone be unhappy,' he thought, 'who lives in so splendid a residence?'
这两位先生到达侯爵的办公室之前，穿过了二层的几个客厅，啊，我的读者，您会觉得它们既豪华又沉闷。若是照这个样子给您的话，您会拒绝住在里面的；那是哈欠和沉闷议论的故乡。于连却觉得更加心醉神迷。“住在这样富丽堂皇的地方，”他想，“怎么能感到不幸呢？”
Finally, our friends came to the ugliest of the rooms in this superb suite: the daylight barely entered it; here, they found a wizened little man with a keen eye and a fair periwig. The abbe turned to Julien, whom he presented. It was the Marquis. Julien had great difficulty in recognising him, so civil did he find him. This was no longer the great noble man, so haughty in his mien, of the Abbey of BrayleHaut. It seemed to Julien that there was far too much hair in his wig. Thanks to this impression, he was not in the least intimidated. The descendant of Henri III's friend struck him at first as cutting but a poor figure. He was very thin and greatly agitated. But he soon remarked that the Marquis showed a courtesy even more agreeable to the person he was addressing than that of the Bishop of Besancon himself. The audience did not occupy three minutes. As they left the room, the abbe said to Julien:
终于，这两位先主来到这套华丽的房子中最丑陋的一间，里面黑乎乎的，有一个又矮又瘦的人，目光炯炯有神，戴着金色的假发。神甫朝于连转过身，作了介绍。这就是侯爵。于连简直认不出了，觉得他看上去那么彬彬有礼。这不再是博莱－勒欧修道院里的那个神色如此傲慢的大贵人了。于连觉得他的假发太厚。靠了这种感觉，他居然一点儿也不害怕了。一开始他觉得亨利三世的朋友的这个后代外表相当猥琐。他很瘦，老是动。然而于连很快就注意到侯爵的礼貌比贝藏松主教的更使交谈者感到愉快。接待持续了不到三分钟。出来时神甫对于连说：
'You looked at the Marquis as you would have looked at a picture. I am no expert in what these people call politeness, soon you will know more about it than I; still, the boldness of your stare seemed to me to be scarcely polite.'
“您看着侯爵就像看一幅画儿似地。对于这些人称为礼貌的那种东西，我不大精通，您很快就会知道得比我多了；反正我觉得您的目光的大胆不大礼貌。”
They had returned to their vehicle; the driver stopped by the boulevard; the abbe led Julien through a series of spacious rooms. Julien remarked that they were unfurnished. He was looking at a magnificent gilt clock, representing a subject that in his opinion was highly indecent, when a most elegant gentleman approached them with an affable expression. Julien made him a slight bow.
他们又登上出租马车，车夫把车子停在林荫火道旁；神甫领着于连进入一连串的大客厅。于连注意到里面没有家具。于连望着一架华丽的镀金座钟，其主题在他看来很不雅，这时一位风度翩翩的先生笑盈盈地走过来。于连略微点了点头。
The gentleman smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder. Julien quivered and sprang back. He was flushed with anger. The abbe Pirard, for all his gravity, laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks. The gentleman was a tailor.
那位先生微微一笑，把手放在他的肩膀上。于连一惊，朝后跳了一步。他气得脸都红了。彼拉神甫尽管板着脸，也不禁笑出了眼泪。原来那位先生是裁缝。
'I leave you at liberty for two days,' the abbe told him as they emerged; 'it is not until then that you can be presented to Madame de La Mole.Most people would protect you like a young girl, in these first moments of your sojourn in this modern Babylon. Ruin yourself at once, if you are to be ruined, and I shall be rid of the weakness I show in caring for you.The day after tomorrow, in the morning, this tailor will bring you two coats; you will give five francs to the boy who tries them on you. Otherwise, do not let these Parisians hear the sound of your voice. If you utter a word, they will find a way of making you look foolish. That is their talent. The day after tomorrow, be at my house at midday… Run along, ruin yourself … I was forgetting, go and order boots, shirts, a hat at these addresses.
“我给您两天的自由，”出门时，神甫对他说，“那时您才能被介绍给德·拉奥尔夫人。换了别人，在您来到这个新巴比伦的最初日子里，会把您像一个年轻姑娘一样死死守着的。您要堕落就立刻去堕落吧，我也可以摆脱掉老是想着您这个弱点了。后天早晨，裁缝会给您送两套衣服；您给试衣服的伙计五个法郎。还有，不要让这些巴黎人听见您的说话声。您一开口，他们就掌握了取笑您的秘密。这是他们的本事。后天中午到我那里……去吧，堕落吧……我忘了，按照这些地址去定做靴子、衬衣、帽子。”
Julien studied the handwriting of the addresses.
于连仔细看这些地址的笔迹。
'That is the Marquis's hand,' said the abbe, 'he is an active man who provides for everything, and would rather do a thing himself than order it to be done. He is taking you into his household so that you may save him trouble of this sort. Will you have sufficient intelligence to carry out all the orders that this quick-witted man will suggest to you in a few words? The future will show: have a care!'
“这是侯爵的亲笔，”神甫说；“他是个实干家，凡事想在头里，喜欢亲手干胜过下命令。他把您放在身边就是为了省去此类麻烦。您有足够的聪明办好这个易怒的人含蓄地交代给您的每一件事吗？这以后就会知道：您可要小心啊！”
Julien, without uttering a word, made his way into the shops indicated on the list of addresses; he observed that he was greeted there with respect, and the boot-maker, in entering his name in his books, wrote 'M. Julien de Sorel'.
于连按照地址走进那些工匠的铺子，一声不吭；他注意到他受到了恭恭敬敬的接待，而且靴匠在登记簿上还把他的名字写成于连·德·索莱尔先生。
In the Cemetery of Pere Lachaise a gentleman who seemed highly obliging, and even more Liberal in his speech, offered to guide Julien to the tomb of Marshal Ney, from which a wise administration has withheld the honour of an epitaph. But, after parting from this Liberal, who, with tears in his eyes, almost clasped him to his bosom, Julien no longer had a watch. It was enriched by this experience that, two days later, at noon, he presented himself before the abbe Pirard, who studied him attentively.
在拉雪兹神甫公墓，一位先生十分地殷勤，嘴上则更像个自由党，主动把奈伊元帅的墓指给于连看，一项巧妙的政策使他的墓上不得有墓志铭。于连含沼和这个自由党人告别，几乎把他抱在了怀里，可他自己的表却不翼而飞了。他得了这个教训，第三天中午去见彼拉神甫，神甫久久地打量着他。
'You are perhaps going to become a fop,' the abbe said to him, with a severe expression. Julien had the appearance of an extremely young man, in deep mourning; he did, as a matter of fact, look quite well, but the good abbe was himself too provincial to notice that Julien still had that swing of the shoulders which in the provinces betokens at once elegance and importance. On seeing Julien, the Marquis considered his graces in a light so different from that of the good abbe that he said to him:
“您可能要变成一个花花公子了，”神甫对他说，神情严厉。于连看上去像个戴着重孝的极年轻的人；他也确实很帅，不过善良的神甫自己太土气，看不出于连肩膀的动作还有讲究，那在外省是被看作高雅和神气的。保爵对于连的风度的评价和善良的神甫截然不同，他一见就对神甫说：
'Should you have any objection to M. Sorel's taking dancing lessons?'
“您会反对索莱尔先生学跳舞吗？”
The abbe was rooted to the spot.
神甫一下愣住了。
'No,' he replied, at length, 'Julien is not a priest.'
“不，”他好一会儿才答道，“于连不是教士。”
The Marquis, mounting two steps at a time by a little secret stair, conducted our hero personally to a neat attic which overlooked the huge garden of the house. He asked him how many shirts he had ordered from the hosier.
侯爵一步两级地爬上一道狭窄的暗梯，亲自把我们的主人公安置在朝向府邸大花园的一间漂亮阁楼里。他问他在女裁缝那里买了多少件衬衣。
'Two,' replied Julien, dismayed at seeing so great a gentleman descend to these details.
“两件，”于连答道，看到这样一位大贵人屈尊关心这等小事，不免慌乱起来。
'Very good,' said the Marquis, with a serious air, and an imperative, curt note in his voice, which set Julien thinking: 'very good! Order yourself two and twenty more. Here is your first quarter's salary.'
“很好，”侯爵态度严肃地说，带有某种命令和生硬的口气，这使于连陷入沉思；“很好！再去买二十二件衬衣。这是您头一个季度的薪水。”
As they came down from the attic, the Marquis summoned an elderly man: 'Arsene,' he said to him, 'you will look after M. Sorel.' A few minutes later, Julien found himself alone in a magnificent library: it was an exquisite moment. So as not to be taken by surprise in his emotion, he went and hid himself in a little dark corner; from which he gazed with rapture at the glittering backs of the books. 'I can read all of those,' he told himself. 'And how should I fail to be happy here? M. de Renal would have thought himself disgraced for ever by doing the hundredth part of what the Marquis de La Mole has just done for me.
侯爵下了阁楼，叫来一个年长的人，对他说：“阿尔赛纳，以后您伺候索莱尔先生。”几分钟之后，于连一个人呆在一间豪华的图书室里；这时刻妙不可言。他很激动，为了不让人撞见，他躲进一个阴暗的小角落里；从那里出神地观赏着一排排闪闪发亮的书脊，心想：“我可以读所有这些书啦，我在这儿怎么会感到不愉快呢？德·拉莫尔侯爵刚刚为我做的这一切，德·莱纳尔先生哪怕做上百分之一也会一辈子觉得有失体面的。”
'But first of all, we must copy the letters.' This task ended, Julien ventured towards the shelves; he almost went mad with joy on finding an edition of Voltaire. He ran and opened the door of the library so as not to be caught. He then gave himself the pleasure of opening each of the eighty volumes in turn. They were magnificently bound, a triumph of the best craftsman in London. This was more than was needed to carry Julien's admiration beyond all bounds.
“不过，还是让我们来看看要抄写的东西吧。”工作结束之后，于连才敢走近那些书；他发现了一套伏尔泰，差点儿高兴得发狂。他跑去开开图书室的门，免得人来了措手不及。然后，他开始享受一卷卷地翻开那八十本书的乐趣。书装得极漂亮，是伦敦最优秀的工人的杰作。其实用不着这么漂亮，也能让于连叹为观止。
An hour later, the Marquis entered the room, examined the copies, and was surprised to see that Julien wrote cela with a double l, cella 'So all that the abbe has been telling me of his learning is simply a tale!' The Marquis, greatly discouraged, said to him gently:
一小时以后，侯爵进来了，看了看抄件，惊奇地发现于连写。cela这个字写了两个１，成了cela。“神甫关于他的学问所说的那些话难道都是无稽之谈吗！”侯爵很泄气，温和地对他说：
'You are not certain of your spelling?'
“您对您的拼法拿不准吗？”
'That is true,' said Julien, without the least thought of the harm he was doing himself; he was moved by the Marquis's kindness, which made him think of M. de Renal's savage tone.
“的确如此，”于连说，根本没有考虑这给他造成的损害；他对侯爵的宽厚很感动，不禁想起了德·莱纳先生傲慢的腔调。
'It is all a waste of time, this experiment with a little Franccomtois priest,' thought the Marquis; 'but I did so want a trustworthy man.
“试用这个从弗郎什—孔泰来的小神甫真是白费工夫，”侯爵想，“然而我多么需要一个可靠的人啊！”
'Cela has only one l,' the Marquis told him; 'when you have finished your copies, take the dictionary and look out all the words of which you are not certain.'
“Cela这个字只有一个l，”侯爵对他说；“您抄写完毕以后，拼法拿不准的字就查查词典。”
At six o'clock the Marquis sent for him; he looked with evident dismay at Julien's boots: 'I am to blame. I forgot to tell you that every evening at half-past five you must dress.'
六点钟，侯爵打发人来叫他；他看了看于连的靴子，明显地不快：“这是我的不对，我没告诉您每天五点半钟应该存着整齐。”
Julien looked at him without understanding him.
于连看着他，没有懂。
'I mean put on stockings. Arsene will remind you; today I shall make your apologies.'
“我是说要穿长袜，阿尔赛纳会提醒您的；今天我原谅您。”
So saying, M. de La Mole ushered Julien into a drawing-room resplendent with gilding. On similar occasions, M. de Renal never failed to increase his pace so that he might have the satisfaction of going first through the door.The effect of his old employer's petty vanity was that Julien now trod upon the Marquis's heels, and caused him considerable pain, owing to his gout. 'Ah! He is even more of a fool than I thought,' the Marquis said to himself. He presented him to a woman of tall stature and imposing aspect. It was the Marquise. Julien decided that she had an impertinent air, which reminded him a little of Madame de Maugiron, the Sub-Prefect's wife of the Verrieres district, when she attended the Saint Charles's day dinner. Being somewhat embarrassed by the extreme splendour of the room, Julien did not hear what M. de La Mole was saying. The Marquise barely deigned to glance at him. There were several men in the room, among whom Julien recognised with unspeakable delight the young Bishop of Agde, who had condescended to say a few words to him once at the ceremony at Brayle Haut. The young prelate was doubtless alarmed by the tender gaze which Julien, in his timidity, fastened upon him, and made no effort to recognise this provincial.
说完，德·拉莫尔先生让于连到一间金碧辉煌的客厅里去。在类似的场合，德·莱纳先生总要加快脚步，抢先进门。前主人的这个小小的虚荣心使于连踩到了侯爵的脚上，踩得他很疼，因为他有痛风病。“啊！原来他还是个笨手笨脚的家伙，”侯爵心里说。他把他介绍给，一个身材高大、外表威严的女人。这是侯爵夫人。于连觉得她态度傲慢，有点像参加圣查理节晚宴时的维里埃专区区长德·莫吉隆夫人。客厅极其豪华，于连不禁有些慌乱，没听见德·拉莫尔先生说什么，候爵夫人勉强屈尊看了看他。客厅里有几个男人，于连认出了年轻的阿格德主教，感到说不出地高兴。几个月前，在博莱－勒欧修道院的那次仪式上，阿格德主教曾屈尊跟他说过话。当时于连很腼腆，但他那双温柔的眼睛盯着他看，大慨把他吓坏了，此时这位年轻的高级教士根本不想认这个外省人。
The men assembled in this drawing-room seemed to Julien to be some how melancholy and constrained; people speak low in Paris, and do not exaggerate trifling matters.
于连觉得，聚集在客厅里的这些人有点儿愁闷、拘谨；在巴黎人们说话声音很低，而且不大惊小怪。
A handsome young man, wearing moustaches, very pale and slender, entered the room at about half-past six; he had an extremely small head.
一位漂亮的年轻人，留着小胡子，脸色苍白，个子瘦长，快到六点半才进来；他的脑袋很小。
'You always keep us waiting,' said the Marquise, as he kissed her hand.
“您总是让别人等，”他吻侯爵夫人的手，侯爵夫人说。
Julien gathered that this was the Comte de La Mole. He found him charming from the first.
于连知道了，这是德·拉莫尔伯爵。他一见就觉得他可爱。
'Is it possible,' he said to himself, 'that this is the man whose offensive pleasantries are going to drive me from this house?'
“这怎么可能，这就是那个会用伤人的玩笑把我从这个人家赶出去的人呀！”
By dint of a survey of Comte Norbert's person, Julien discovered that he was wearing boots and spurs; 'and I ought to be wearing shoes, evidently as his inferior.' They sat down to table. Julien heard the Marquise utter a word of rebuke, slightly raising her voice. Almost at the same moment he noticed a young person extremely fair and very comely, who was taking her place opposite to him. She did not attract him at all; on studying her attentively, however, he thought that he had never seen such fine eyes; but they hinted at great coldness of heart. Later, Julien decided that they expressed a boredom which studies other people but keeps on reminding itself that it is one's duty to be imposing. 'Madame de Renal, too, had the most beautiful eyes,' he said to himself; 'people used to compliment her on them; but they had nothing in common with these.' Julien had not enough experience to discern that it was the fire of wit that shone from time to time in the eyes of Mademoiselle Mathilde, for so he heard her named. When Madame de Renal's eyes became animated, it was with the fire of her passions, or was due to a righteous indignation upon hearing of some wicked action. Towards the end of dinner, Julien found the right word to describe the type of beauty exemplified by the eyes of Mademoiselle de La Mole: 'They are scintillating,' he said to himself. Otherwise, she bore a painful resemblance to her mother, whom he disliked more and more, and he ceased to look at her. Comte Norbert, on the other hand, struck him as admirable in every respect. Julien was so captivated, that it never entered his head to be jealous of him and to hate him, because he was richer and nobler than himself.
于连仔细观察诺贝尔伯爵，注意到他穿靴子，还带着马刺；“而我就得穿鞋，显然像个下人。”大家入座吃饭。于连听见侯爵夫人稍稍提高了声音，说了一句严厉的话。几乎就在同时，他看见一个女孩子过来坐在他对面，她的头发是极浅的金黄色，身材非常好。她一点几也不讨他喜欢；不过细细端详之后，他想他从未见过如此美丽的眼睛；但是它们显露出一个极端冷酷的灵魂。接着，于连发现它们表现出一种既在观察人又不忘必须保持威严的厌倦无聊。“德·莱纳夫人也有一双很美的眼睛，人人都称赞，”他心想，“但它们和这一双毫无共同之处。”于连见得还少，分辨不出那是智慧的光芒，不时地在玛蒂尔德小姐（他听见这样称呼她）的眼睛中闪现。而德·莱纳夫人的眼睛亮起来，则是热情之火，或者是因为听说一件坏行为而义愤填膺。这顿饭快结束时，于连找到一个词来表达德·拉莫尔小姐的眼睛的美：“它们是一闪一闪的，”他对自己说。除此之外，她的相貌酷似她的母亲，而她的母亲于连是越来越不喜欢了，也就不再看她了。相反，他觉得诺贝尔伯爵各方面都令人赞赏。于连被迷住了，甚至想不到因为他比自己富有高贵而去嫉妒他、憎恨他。
Julien thought that the Marquis appeared bored.
于连发现侯爵显得烦闷无聊。
During the second course, he said to his son:
快上第二道菜了，侯爵对他的儿子说：
'Norbert, I must ask you to look after M. Julien Sorel, whom I have just taken upon my staff, and intend to make a man of, if that (cela) can be done.
“诺贝尔，我求你关照于连·索莱尔先生，我刚刚让他进入我的班子，而且我想让他成个人物，如果cela（这）可能的话。”
'He is my secretary,' the Marquis added to his neighbour, 'and he spells cela with a double l.'
“这是我的秘书，”他对旁边的人说，“他写cela用了两个l。”
Everyone looked at Julien, who gave Norbert a slightly exaggerated bow; but on the whole, they were satisfied with his appearance.
大家都看于连，他对诺贝尔点了点头，稍许过了些；不过总地说，他们对他的眼神感到满意。
The Marquis must have spoken of the kind of education that Julien had received, for one of the guests tackled him upon Horace: 'It was pre cisely in discussing Horace that I was successful with the Bishop of Besancon,' Julien said to himself, 'evidently he is the only author they know.'From that moment he was master of himself. This change was made easy by his having just decided that Mademoiselle de La Mole would never be a woman in his eyes. Since his Seminary days he defied men to do their worst, and refused to be intimidated by them. He would have enjoyed perfect self-possession, had the dining-room been furnished with less magnificence. It was, as a matter of fact, a pair of mirrors, each of them eight feet high, in which he caught sight now and then of his challenger as he spoke of Horace, that still continued to overawe him. His sentences were not unduly long for a provincial. He had fine eyes, the? sparkle in which was enhanced by his tremulous, or, when he had made a good answer, his happy shyness. This sort of examination made a serious dinner party quite interesting. The Marquis made a sign to the other speaker to press Julien hard. 'Can it be possible that he does know something?' he thought.
大概侯爵说起于连所受的教育，客人中有一位就拿贺拉斯盘问他。“我正是谈贺拉斯才在贝藏讼的主教面前获得成功，”于连心想，“看起来，他们只知道这个作家。”从这财起，他的心踏实了。这个变化不难，因为他刚刚决定永不把德·拉莫尔小姐当做女人看。自打进了神学院，他就对男人作了最坏的打算，很难被他们吓倒。如果餐厅不那么豪华，他会完全镇定自如的。然而，还是有两面八尺高的镜子令他肃然起敬，他不时地在里面看见那个谈贺拉斯的人。对一个外省人来说，那人的句子还不算太长。他有一双漂亮眼睛，一种战战兢兢的或者因听见答得好而感到快乐的羞怯使这双眼睛更加明亮。他被认为是令人愉快的。这种考试给一顿严肃的晚餐增添了些许乐趣。侯爵示意于连的对话者狠狠地考。“难道他果然知道点儿什么吗？”他想。
Julien found fresh ideas as he answered, and lost enough of his shyness not, indeed, to display wit, a thing impossible to a person ignorant of the language that is spoken in Paris, but he had original ideas, albeit expressed without gracefulness or appropriateness, and it could be seen that he had a thorough knowledge of Latin.
于连边回答，边想看法。他已不那么羞怯，足以表现一番，当然不是机智，这对不知道巴黎人如何说话的人来说是不可能的，他有的是新的看法，虽说表达得不优雅也不恰当，但大家已看出他精通拉丁文。
His adversary was a member of the Academy of Inscriptions, who happened to know Latin; he found in Julien an excellent humanist, lost all fear of making him blush, and really did seek to embarrass him. In the heat of the duel, Julien at length forgot the magnificent decoration of the dining-room, and began to express ideas with regard to the Latin poets, which the other had never read in any book. Being an honest man, he gave the credit for them to the young secretary. Fortunately, the discussion turned to the question whether Horace had been poor or rich: an amiable person, sensual and easygoing, making poetry for his own amusement, like Chapelle, the friend of Moliere and La Fontaine; or a poor devil of a Poet Laureate attached to the court and composing odes for the King's Birthday, like Southey, the traducer of Lord Byron. They spoke of the state of society under Augustus and under George IV; in both epochs the aristocracy was all-powerful! but in Rome it saw its power wrested from it by Maecenas, who was a mere knight; and in England it had reduced George IV more or less to the position of a Doge of Venice. This discussion seemed to draw the Marquis out of the state of torpor in which his boredom had kept him plunged at the beginning of dinner.
于连的对手是铭文学院的院士，碰巧也懂拉丁文；他发现于连是个很好的人文学者，也就不怕让他受窘脸红了，于是真地想方设法让他下不来台。于连战得兴起，终于忘了餐厅里豪华的陈设，关于拉丁诗人陈述了一些对话者在任何地方也不曾读过的看法。对话者是个正直的人，对年轻的秘书大加称赞。幸好有人挑起一场争论，争论的问题是贺拉斯是穷是富；像莫里哀和拉封丹的朋友夏佩尔那样是个可爱的、享乐的、无忧无虑的、为了消谴而写诗的人，还是像师伦勋爵的告发者骚塞那样是个追随宫廷、为国王的生日写颂歌的穷桂冠诗人。他们谈到奥古斯都治下和乔治四世治下的社会状况；这两个时代，贵族的权力很大；但是在罗马，它眼看着权力被仅仅是个普通骑士的梅塞纳夺走；而在英国，它迫使乔治四世几乎处于威尼斯的一个大公的地位。这场争论似乎使侯爵摆脱了麻木状态，晚饭开始后他一直闷闷不乐。
Julien could make nothing of all these modern names, such as Southey, Lord Byron, George IV, which he now heard for the first time.But no one could fail to observe that whenever there was any question of historical events at Rome, a knowledge of which might be derived from the works of Horace, Martial, Tacitus, etc., he had an unchallengeable superiority. Julien appropriated without a scruple a number of ideas which he had acquired from the Bishop of Besancon, during the famous discussion he had had with that prelate; these proved to be not the least acceptable.
于连对所有那些现代人的名字一窍不通，象骚塞、拜伦勋爵、乔治四世，他都是第一次听说。但是，没有人不看到，一旦涉及在罗马发生的、可以在贺拉斯、马夏尔、塔西陀等人的著作中获知的事情，于连就有不容争辩的优势。于连把他在同贝藏松的主教这位高级教士进行的著名讨论中学来的好几个看法不客气地据为己有，这些看法并非最不受欢迎。
When the party tired of discussing poets, the Marquise, who made it a rule to admire anything that amused her husband, condescended to glance at Julien. 'The awkward manners of this young cleric may perhaps be concealing a learned man,' the Academician, who was sitting near her, said to the Marquise; and Julien overheard something of what he was saying. Ready-made phrases were quite to the taste of his hostess; she adopted this description of Julien, and was glad that she had invited the Academician to dine. 'He amuses M. de La Mole,' she thought.
大家谈诗人谈厌了，侯爵夫人才屈尊看了看于连，凡是让她丈夫开心的事情，她都无例外地加以赞赏。“在这个年轻神甫的笨拙举止下面，也许掩藏着一个有学问的人，”坐在侯爵夫人旁边的院士对她说；而于连也隐约听见了。套话相当投合女主人的趣味，她接受了关于于连的这一句，暗自庆幸把院士请了来吃晚饭。“他给德·拉莫尔先生解了闷，”她想。