月亮和六便士 第四十三章(3)

 When I come to his connection with Blanche Stroeve I am exasperated¹ by the fragmentariness of the facts at my disposal. 当我开始叙述他同勃朗什·施特略夫的关系时，我也深为自己掌握材料不足所苦。

To give my story coherence² I should describe the progress of their tragic³ union, 为了把我的故事说得有头有尾，我应该描写一下他们这一悲剧性的结合是如何发展的，

but I know nothing of the three months during which they lived together. 但是我对他俩三个月的同居生活却一无所知。

I do not know how they got on or what they talked about. 我不知道他们如何相处，也不知道他们平常谈一些什么。

After all, there are twenty-four hours in the day, and the summits of emotion can only be reached at rare intervals⁴. 不管怎么说，一天是有二十四小时的，感情的高峰只是在稀有的时刻才达到的现象。

I can only imagine how they passed the rest of the time. 其他的时间是怎么过的，我只能借助自己的想象力。

While the light lasted and so long as Blanche's strength endured, 在光线没有暗淡下来以前，只要勃朗什的气力还能支持住，

I suppose that Strickland painted, and it must have irritated her when she saw him absorbed in his work. 我想思特里克兰德总是不停笔地作画。我想勃朗什对他这样沉溺于自己的绘画中，一定感到非常气恼。

As a mistress she did not then exist for him, but only as a model; 整个这段时间，她只是他的模特儿，他根本没有想到她的情妇的角色。

and then there were long hours in which they lived side by side in silence. It must have frightened her. 此外，就是相对无言的漫长的时刻，对她说来，也一定是件怪可怕的事。

When Strickland suggested that in her surrender to him there was a sense of triumph over Dirk Stroeve, 思特里克兰德曾对我透露，勃朗什献身给他，带有某种向戴尔克·施特略夫报复的感情在内，

because he had come to her help in her extremity⁵, he opened the door to many a dark conjecture⁶. 因为戴尔克是在她丢尽了脸面的时候把她搭救起来的；思特里克兰德泄露的这个秘密为许多玄妙的臆想打开了门户。

I hope it was not true. It seems to me rather horrible. 我希望思特里克兰德的话并不真实；我觉得这有点儿太可怕了。

But who can fathom⁷ the subtleties⁸ of the human heart? 但是话又说回来，谁能理解人心的奥秘呢？

Certainly not those who expect from it only decorous sentiments and normal emotions. 那些只希望从人心里寻到高尚的情操和正常感情的人肯定是不会理解的。

When Blanche saw that, notwithstanding his moments of passion, Strickland remained aloof⁹, she must have been filled with dismay, 当勃朗什发现思特里克兰德除了偶尔迸发出一阵热情以外，总是离她远远的，心里一定非常痛苦；

and even in those moments I surmise¹⁰ that she realised that to him she was not an individual, but an instrument of pleasure; 而我猜想，即使在那些短暂的时刻，她也知道得很清楚，思特里克兰德不过只把她当作自己取乐的工具，而不把她当人看待。

he was a stranger still, and she tried to bind¹¹ him to herself with pathetic arts. 他始终是一个陌生人，她用一切可怜的手段拼命想把他系牢在自己身边。

She strove to ensnare him with comfort and would not see that comfort meant nothing to him. 她试图用舒适的生活网罗住他，殊不知他对安逸的环境丝毫也不介意。

She was at pains to get him the things to eat that he liked, and would not see that he was indifferent to food. 她费尽心机给他弄合他口味的东西吃，却看不到他吃什么东西部无所谓。

She was afraid to leave him alone. 她害怕叫他独自一个人待着，

She pursued him with attentions, and when his passion was dormant¹² sought to excite it, for then at least she had the illusion of holding him. 总是不断地对他表示关心、照护，当他的热情酣睡的时候，就想尽各种方法唤醒它，因为这样她至少还可以有一种把他把持在手的假象。

Perhaps she knew with her intelligence that the chains she forged only aroused his instinct of destruction, 也许她的智慧告诉她，她铸造的这些链条只不过刺激起他的天性想把它砸断，

as the plate-glass window makes your fingers itch¹³ for half a brick; 正象厚玻璃会使人看着手痒痒，想捡起半块砖来似的。

but her heart, incapable¹⁴ of reason, made her continue on a course she knew was fatal. 但是她的心却不听理智的劝告，总是逼着她沿着一条她自己也知道必然通向毁灭的路上滑下去。

She must have been very unhappy. 她一定非常痛苦，

But the blindness of love led her to believe what she wanted to be true, 但是爱情的盲目性却叫她相信自己的追求是真实的，

and her love was so great that it seemed impossible to her that it should not in return awake an equal love. 叫她相信自己的爱情是伟大的，不可能不在他身上唤起同样的爱情来还答她。

1 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

2 coherence   

n.紧凑；连贯；一致性

参考例句：

• There was no coherence between the first and the second half of the film.这部电影的前半部和后半部没有连贯性。
• Environmental education is intended to give these topics more coherence.环境教育的目的是使这些课题更加息息相关。

3 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

4 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

5 extremity   

n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度

参考例句：

• I hope you will help them in their extremity.我希望你能帮助在穷途末路的他们。
• What shall we do in this extremity?在这种极其困难的情况下我们该怎么办呢？

6 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。

7 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

8 subtleties   

细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等

参考例句：

• I think the translator missed some of the subtleties of the original. 我认为译者漏掉了原著中一些微妙之处。
• They are uneducated in the financial subtleties of credit transfer. 他们缺乏有关信用转让在金融方面微妙作用的知识。

9 aloof   

adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的

参考例句：

• Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
• On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。

10 surmise   

v./n.猜想，推测

参考例句：

• It turned out that my surmise was correct.结果表明我的推测没有错。
• I surmise that he will take the job.我推测他会接受这份工作。

11 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

12 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

13 itch   

n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望

参考例句：

• Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
• He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。

14 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。