TWO YEARS BEFORE, at the beginning of 1808, Pierre had returned to Petersburg from his visits to his estates, and by no design of his own had taken a leading position among the freemasons in Petersburg. —
1808年初，两年前的一个时候，皮埃尔从他的庄园回到了彼得堡，并且无意中在彼得堡的自由石匠中占据了领导地位。 —

He organised dining and funeral lodges, enrolled new members, took an active part in the formation of different lodges, and the acquisition of authentic acts. —
他组织了宴会和葬礼的石匠工会，招收新成员，积极参与不同工会的形成和真迹的获取。 —

He spent his money on the construction of temples, and, to the best of his powers, made up the arrears of alms, a matter in which the majority of members were niggardly and irregular. —
他花钱修建寺庙，并尽力弥补救济金的拖欠，这是大多数成员吝啬和不规则的一个问题。 —

At his own expense, almost unaided, he maintained the poorhouse built by the order in Petersburg.
几乎没有帮助，他自己负担着彼得堡石匠团建造的救济院。

Meanwhile his life ran on in the old way, yielding to the same temptations and the same laxity. —
与此同时，他的生活还在以前的方式继续，屈从于相同的诱惑和懒散。 —

He liked a good dinner and he liked strong drink; —
他喜欢好饭菜，也喜欢烈酒； —

and, though he thought it immoral and degrading to yield to them, he was unable to resist the temptations of the bachelor society in which he moved.
尽管他认为屈从于这些诱惑是不道德和堕落的，但他无法抗拒他所处的单身社交圈子的诱惑。

Yet even in the whirl of his active work and his dissipations, Pierre began, after the lapse of a year, to feel more and more as though the ground of freemasonry on which he had taken his stand was slipping away under his feet the more firmly he tried to rest on it. —
然而，即使在繁忙的工作和放纵中，皮埃尔在一年之后开始越来越感到，他站立的共济会的基础正在他的脚下逐渐溜走，他试图更加牢固地依靠它休息。 —

At the same time he felt that the further the ground slipped from under his feet, the more close was his bondage to the order. —
与此同时，他感觉到地面离他的脚越远，他对秩序的束缚就越紧密。 —

When he had entered the brotherhood he had felt like a man who confidently puts his foot down on the smooth surface of a bog. —
当他加入这个兄弟会时，他感觉自己像一个自信地把脚停在泥地表面的人。 —

Having put one foot down, he had sunk in; —
他一只脚踩下去后，就陷进去了; —

and to convince himself of the firmness of the ground on which he stood, he had put the other foot down on it too, and had sunk in further, had stuck in the mud, and now was against his own will struggling knee-deep in the bog.
为了使自己相信他站立的地面的稳固性，他又把另一只脚踩在上面，结果进一步陷进去，陷在泥里，现在他却不情愿地在这个泥沼中挣扎到膝盖深处。

Osip Alexyevitch was not in Petersburg. (He had withdrawn from all participation in the affairs of the Petersburg lodge, and now never left Moscow. —
奥西普·亚列克谢维奇不在圣彼得堡。（他已经退出了圣彼得堡分会的所有事务，现在从不离开莫斯科。 —

) All the brothers who were members of the lodge were people Pierre knew in daily life, and it was difficult for him to see in them simply brothers in freemasonry, and not Prince B., nor Ivan Vasilyevitch D., whom he knew in private life mostly as persons of weak and worthless character. —
在大多数平日生活中，皮埃尔对大多数兄弟会成员都认识，因此很难只把他们看作是共济会的兄弟，而不是B王子，或者伊凡瓦西里耶维奇D，因为他在私下生活中知道他们大多数人都是弱势和毫无价值的人。 —

Under their masonic aprons and emblems he could not help seeing the uniforms and the decorations they were striving after in mundane life. —
在他们的共济会围裙和徽章下，他无法不看到他们在尘世生活中所追求的制服和勋章。 —

Often after collecting the alms and reckoning up twenty to thirty roubles promised—and for the most part left owing—from some ten members, of whom half were as well-off as Pierre himself, he thought of the masonic vow by which every brother promised to give up all his belongings for his neighbour; —
经常在向十名会员收集救济金和计算承诺的二三十卢布之后（大部分会员都像皮埃尔一样富裕），他想起了每个兄弟发誓要为他的邻居放弃所有财物的共济会誓约； —

and doubts stirred in his soul from which he tried to escape.
从那之后，他的内心涌上了疑虑，试图逃避。

He divided all the brothers he knew into four classes. —
他将他所认识的所有兄弟分成了四类。 —

In the first class he reckoned brothers who took no active interest in the affairs of the lodges nor in the service of humanity, but were occupied exclusively with the scientific secrets of the order, with questions relating to the threefold designation of God, or the three first elements of things—sulphur, mercury, and salt—or the significance of the square and all the figures of the Temple of Solomon. —
在第一类中，他指的是那些对大宗教团体事务和为人类服务不感兴趣，而完全专注于该组织的科学秘密以及涉及上帝三重称谓、物质的前三种元素硫磺、水银和盐，或是以及所罗门殿的各种图案等问题的同胞兄弟们。 —

Pierre respected this class of masons, to which the elder brothers principally belonged—in it Pierre reckoned Osip Alexyevitch—but he did not share their interests. —
皮埃尔尊重这类会员，尤其是那些年长的兄弟们，奥西普·阿列克西耶维奇就属于这一类，尽管他并不分享他们的兴趣。 —

His heart wasn’t in the mystic side of freemasonry.
他对于共济会的神秘一面并不感兴趣。

In the second class Pierre included himself, and brothers like himself, wavering, seeking, and not yet finding in freemasonry a straight and fully understood path for themselves, but still hoping to find it.
在第二类中，皮埃尔将自己和像他一样的兄弟们归为一类，他们摇摆不定、寻求着，但尚未在共济会中找到一条直接、完全理解的道路，并且仍然希望能够找到。

In the third class he reckoned brothers—they formed the majority—who saw in freemasonry nothing but an external form and ceremonial, and valued the strict performance of that external form without troubling themselves about its import or significance. —
在第三类人中，他们认为兄弟会——占多数的人——视共济会仅仅是一种外在的形式和仪式，他们重视严格地执行那种外在形式并且不去关心其中的意义和重要性。 —

Such were Villarsky and the Grand Master of the lodge indeed.
维拉斯基和大师公园确实属于这一类人。

The fourth class, too, included a great number of the brothers especially among those who had entered the brotherhood of late. —
第四类人中也包括很多兄弟，尤其是那些最近加入兄弟会的人。 —

These were men who, as far as Pierre could observe, had no belief in anything, nor desire of anything, but had entered the brotherhood simply for the sake of getting into touch with the wealthy young men, powerful through their connections or their rank, who were numerous in the lodge.
这些人在皮埃尔看来，似乎没有对任何事情的信仰和欲望，只是为了与那些在兄弟会中占多数的富有年轻人建立联系而加入兄弟会。

Pierre began to feel dissatisfied with what he was doing. —
皮埃尔开始对自己所做的事感到不满意。 —

Freemasonry, at least as he knew it here, seemed to him sometimes to rest simply upon formal observances. —
至少在这里他所了解的共济会，似乎有时候仅仅是基于形式上的遵守。 —

He never dreamed of doubting of freemasonry itself, but began to suspect that Russian freemasonry had got on to a false track, and was deviating from its original course. —
他从未想过怀疑自由兄弟会本身，但他开始怀疑俄罗斯的自由兄弟会已经走上了错误的道路，偏离了最初的轨道。 —

And so towards the end of the year Pierre went abroad to devote himself to the higher mysteries of the order.
因此，到了年底，皮埃尔出国去致力于探索该秩序的更高奥秘。

It was in the summer of 1809 that Pierre returned to Petersburg. —
1809年夏天，皮埃尔回到了圣彼得堡。 —

From the correspondence that passed between freemasons in Russia and abroad, it was known that Bezuhov had succeeded in gaining the confidence of many persons in high positions abroad; —
从俄罗斯与国外的自由兄弟会之间的通信中，可以得知贝祖霍夫成功地获得了国外许多高位人士的信任； —

that he had been initiated into many mysteries, had been raised to a higher grade, and was bringing back with him much that would conduce to the progress of freemasonry in Russia. —
他已经接受了许多奥秘的启蒙，被提升到更高的级别，并正带回了许多对俄罗斯自由兄弟会的进展有帮助的东西。 —

The Petersburg freemasons all came to see him, tried to ingratiate themselves with him, and all fancied that he had something in reserve that he was preparing for them.
所有的圣彼得堡自由兄弟会成员都前来拜访他，试图讨好他，并且都认为他有一些保留着为他们准备的东西。

A solemn assembly of the lodge of the second order was arranged, at which Pierre promised to communicate the message he had to give the Petersburg brothers from the highest leaders of the order abroad. —
第二级别的宗派庄严会议被安排好了，彼得答应要传达他从国外最高领导者那里获得的消息给彼得堡兄弟们。 —

The assembly was a full one. After the usual ceremonies Pierre got up and began to speak:
会议人数齐全。在通常的仪式之后，彼得站起来开始讲话：

“Dear brothers,” he began, blushing and hesitating, with a written speech in his hand, “it is not enough to guard our secrets in the seclusion of the lodge,—what is needed is to act … to act. —
“亲爱的兄弟们，”他开始说话时脸红并犹豫地拿着一篇写好的演讲稿，“单纯在宗派的隐秘之中保守我们的秘密是不够的——需要的是行动……行动。 —

… We are falling into slumber, and we need to act.”
……我们正在进入沉睡中，我们需要行动。”

Pierre opened his manuscript and began to read.
彼得打开手稿开始朗读。

“For the propagation of the pure truth and the attainment of virtue,” he read, “we must purify men from prejudice, diffuse principles in harmony with the spirit of the times, undertake the education of the younger generation, ally ourselves by indissoluble ties with the most enlightened men, boldly, and at the same time prudently, overcome superstition, infidelity, and folly, and form of those devoted to us men linked together by a common aim and possessed of power and authority.
“为了传播纯粹的真理和追求美德。”他读到，“我们必须使人们摆脱偏见，传播与时代精神相和谐的原则，从事年轻一代的教育，与最有见识的人结成不可分割的关系，大胆而又谨慎地克服迷信、无神论和愚昧，并与我们致力于共同目标且具有权力和权威的人们结成共同体。

“For the attainment of this aim we must secure to virtue the preponderance over vice; —
“为了实现这一目标，我们必须使美德胜过邪恶； —

we must strive that the honest man may obtain his eternal reward even in this world. —
我们必须努力让正直的人在这个世界上得到永恒的回报。 —

But in those great projects we are very gravely hindered by existing political institutions. —
但是在这些伟大的计划中，我们受到现有政治制度的严重阻碍。 —

What is to be done in the existing state of affairs? —
在现有的情况下应该怎么办？ —

Are we to welcome revolutions, to overthrow everything, to repel violence by violence? —
我们应该欢迎革命，推翻一切，以暴制暴吗？ —

… No, we are very far from that. Every reform by violence is to be deprecated, because it does little to correct the evil while men remain as they are, and because wisdom has no need of violence.
… 不，我们离那个目标还很远。每一次以暴力进行的改革都应该受到谴责，因为它在人们仍然保持原样的情况下几乎无法改正罪恶，并且智慧并不需要暴力。

“The whole plan of our order should be founded on the training of men of character and virtue, bound together by unity of conviction and aim,—the aim of suppressing vice and folly everywhere by every means, and protecting talent and virtue, raising deserving persons out of the dust and enrolling them in our brotherhood. —
“我们组织的整个计划应该建立在培养具有品格和美德的人的基础上，他们通过共同的信念和目标相结合——抑制恶习和愚蠢的目标，通过一切手段保护才华和美德，将值得的人从尘埃中拯救出来并纳入我们的兄弟会。 —

Only then will our order obtain the power insensibly to tie the hands of the promoters of disorder, and to control them without their being aware of it. —
只有这样，我们的组织才能悄悄地获得权力，将扰乱秩序者的手牢牢掌握在自己之中，而他们甚至没有意识到。 —

In a word, we want to found a form of government holding universal sway, which should be diffused over the whole world without encroaching on civil obligations; —
简言之，我们想要建立一种具有普遍影响力的政府形式，能够在不侵犯公民义务的前提下传播到全世界； —

under which all other governments could continue in their ordinary course and do all, except what hinders the great aim of our order, that is, the triumph of virtue over vice. —
在其他所有政府都能按照正常方式运作，只有不妨碍我们联盟的伟大目标，即善良战胜邪恶。 —

This aim is that of Christianity itself. —
这个目标就是基督教本身所追寻的。 —

It has taught men to be holy and good, and for their own profit to follow the precept and example of better and wiser men.
它教导人们要圣洁善良，要根据更好更聪明的人的教诲和榜样来获得自身的利益。

“In times when all was plunged in darkness, exhortation alone was of course enough; —
在所有都陷入黑暗的年代，劝说本身足以起到作用； —

the novelty of truth gave it peculiar force, but nowadays far more powerful means are necessary for us. —
真理的新奇性赋予它特别的力量，但如今我们需要更强大的手段。 —

Now a man guided by his senses needs to find in virtue a charm palpable to the senses. —
现在，一个被感官引导的人需要在美德中找到可以触摸的魅力。 —

The passions cannot be uprooted; we must only attempt to direct them to a noble object, and so every one should be able to find satisfaction for his passions within the bounds of virtue, and our order should provide means to that end. —
无法根除激情；我们只能试图将它们引导至崇高的目标，这样每个人都能在美德的范围内满足自己的激情，而我们的联盟应该为实现这个目标提供手段。 —

As soon as we have a certain number of capable men in every state, each of them training again two others, and all keeping in close cooperation, then everything will be possible for our order, which has already done much in secret for the good of humanity.”
一旦我们在每个州都有一定数量的能干之人，他们各自再培训另外两个人，并保持紧密合作，那么对于我们这个已经为了人类福祉在秘密中做了很多事情的组织来说，一切将成为可能。

This speech did not merely make a great impression, it produced a thrill of excitement in the lodge. —
这次讲话不仅仅给人留下了深刻的印象，还在该组织内产生了一股兴奋的激动情绪。 —

The majority of the brothers, seeing in this speech dangerous projects of “illuminism,” to Pierre’s surprise received it coldly. —
大部分兄弟们对于这次讲话中的“启蒙主义”危险计划抱以冷漠的态度，这让皮埃尔感到意外。 —

The Grand Master began to raise objections to it; —
大师开始对这个计划提出异议。 —

Pierre began to expound his own views with greater and greater heat. —
皮埃尔开始越来越激烈地阐述自己的观点。 —

It was long since there had been so stormy a meeting. The lodge split up into parties; —
这次会议是如此激烈，这样的情况已经有很长一段时间没有出现了。该组织分裂成了派系。 —

one party opposed Pierre, accusing him of “illuminism”; the other supported him. —
一派反对皮埃尔，指责他参与“启蒙主义”，而另一派支持他。 —

Pierre was for the first time at this meeting impressed by the endless multiplicity of men’s minds, which leads to no truth being ever seen by two persons alike.
皮埃尔第一次被会议上众多心灵的无尽多样性所震撼，这样的情况使得没有两个人能以同样的方式看到真理。

Even those among the members who seemed to be on his side interpreted him in their own way, with limitations and variations, to which he could not agree. —
即使在那些似乎站在他一边的成员中，他们也以自己的方式解释他，带有局限性和变化，这是他无法同意的。 —

What Pierre chiefly desired was always to transmit his thought to another exactly as he conceived it himself.
皮埃尔最想做的就是把自己的想法完全准确地传达给别人。

At the conclusion of the sitting, the Grand Master spoke with ill-will and irony to Bezuhov of his hasty temper; —
在会议结束时，大师愤世嫉俗地用恶意和讽刺的口吻对贝祖霍夫谈及他易怒的脾气； —

and observed that it was not love of virtue alone, but a passion for strife, that had guided him in the discussion.
他观察到，他在讨论中的引导者不只是对美德的热爱，更是对斗争的激情。

Pierre made him no reply, but briefly inquired whether his proposal would be accepted. —
皮埃尔没有回答他，只是简短地询问他的提议是否会被接受。 —

He was told that it would not be; and without waiting for the usual formalities, he left the lodge and went home.
他被告知不会被接受，他没有等待通常的正式程序，就离开了会议室回家。