Several days went by, and Rastignac lived in a whirl of gaiety. —
几天过去了，拉斯坦尼亚克生活在狂欢中。 —

He dined almost every day with Mme. de Nucingen, and went wherever she went, only returning to the Rue Neuve-SainteGenevieve in the small hours. —
他几乎每天与努桥夫人共进晚餐，跟随她到哪里去，只在深夜回到新圣日耶纳维夫街。 —

He rose at mid-day, and dressed to go into the Bois with Delphine if the day was fine, squandering in this way time that was worth far more than he knew. —
他中午起床，穿好衣服，如果天气好的话便和德尔菲娜去历险，浪费了比他知道的更宝贵的时间。 —

He turned as eagerly to learn the lessons of luxury, and was as quick to feel its fascination, as the flowers of the date palm to receive the fertilizing pollen. —
他急切地学着奢侈的课程，感受着它的迷人之处，就像日期棕榈的花朵迎接授粉一样。 —

He played high, lost and won large sums of money, and at last became accustomed to the extravagant life that young men lead in Paris. He sent fifteen hundred francs out of his first winnings to his mother and sisters, sending handsome presents as well as the money. —
他玩得很大，输赢了大笔金钱，最终习惯了年轻人在巴黎过的奢侈生活。他把第一笔赌赢的一千五百法郎寄给了母亲和姐妹，还寄去了漂亮的礼物和钱。 —

He had given out that he meant to leave the Maison Vauquer; —
他宣布要离开沃克夫人的住所； —

but January came and went, and he was still there, still unprepared to go.
但是一月来了又走了，他仍然在那里，尚未做好准备离开。

One rule holds good of most young men–whether rich or poor. —
大多数年轻人都有一个规律——无论富有还是贫穷。 —

They never have money for the necessaries of life, but they have always money to spare for their caprices–an anomaly which finds its explanation in their youth and in the almost frantic eagerness with which youth grasps at pleasure. —
他们从来没有钱花在生活必需品上，但总有闲钱随心所欲——这种反常在于他们的年轻以及年轻对快乐近乎疯狂的渴望。 —

They are reckless with anything obtained on credit, while everything for which they must pay in ready money is made to last as long as possible; —
他们对借来的东西毫无忧虑，而对必须现付的东西却尽量省着用； —

if they cannot have all that they want, they make up for it, it would seem, by squandering what they have. —
如果不能得到所有想要的，他们似乎会通过挥霍现有的来弥补这一点。 —

To state the matter simply–a student is far more careful of his hat than of his coat, because the latter being a comparatively costly article of dress, it is in the nature of things that a tailor should be a creditor; —
简而言之——学生对他的帽子比外套看得更仔细，因为外套是相对昂贵的衣物，理所当然会有裁缝作为债主； —

but it is otherwise with the hatter; the sums of money spent with him are so modest, that he is the most independent and unmanageable of his tribe, and it is almost impossible to bring him to terms. —
但是帽商则另当别论；与他花费的钱则很少，他是最独立最难驾驭的一类人，几乎不可能控制他。 —

The young man in the balcony of a theatre who displays a gorgeous waistcoat for the benefit of the fair owners of opera glasses, has very probably no socks in his wardrobe, for the hosier is another of the genus of weevils that nibble at the purse. —
剧院包厢中炫耀华丽背心给歌剧眼镜主人看的年轻人，很可能衣柜里没有袜子，因为袜商是另一类强行攫取钱袋的家伙。 —

This was Rastignac’s condition. His purse was always empty for Mme. Vauquer, always full at the demand of vanity; —
拉斯坦尼亚克处于这种境况。他为瓦克夫人经常是空袋子，但一旦涉及虚荣心，袋子总是满满当当。 —

there was a periodical ebb and flow in his fortunes, which was seldom favorable to the payment of just debts. —
他的财运起伏不定，很少有利于偿还公正债务的时候。 —

If he was to leave that unsavory and mean abode, where from time to time his pretensions met with humiliation, the first step was to pay his hostess for a month’s board and lodging, and the second to purchase furniture worthy of the new lodgings he must take in his quality of dandy, a course that remained impossible. —
如果他要离开那个肮脏和卑贱的住所，那么第一步就是付给房东一个月的食宿费，第二步是购买值得他作为花花公子应有的新居家具，但这种做法至今仍然不可能。 —

Rastignac, out of his winnings at cards, would pay his jeweler exorbitant prices for gold watches and chains, and then, to meet the exigencies of play, would carry them to the pawnbroker, that discreet and forbiddinglooking friend of youth; —
拉斯汀尼亚克用赌博赢来的钱付给珠宝商高昂的金表和金链的价格，然后为了应付赌博的需要，将它们抵押给那位谨慎而令人生畏的青年朋友； —

but when it was a question of paying for board or
但当需要支付食宿费或住宿费，或者为耕作他的埃利斯山谷而购买必要的工具时，他的想象力和勇气都会离他而去。

lodging, or for the necessary implements for the cultivation of his Elysian fields, his imagination and pluck alike deserted him. —
没有什么启发可以从庸俗的必要性中获得，从为满足过去需求而债台高筑。 —

There was no inspiration to be found in vulgar necessity, in debts contracted for past requirements. Like most of those who trust to their luck, he put off till the last moment the payment of debts that among the bourgeoisie are regarded as sacred engagements, acting on the plan of Mirabeau, who never settled his baker’s bill until it underwent a formidable transformation into a bill of exchange.
像大多数依赖运气的人一样，他总是推迟债务的支付，尤其是在中产阶级看来是神圣承诺的债务，采取的是米拉波的计划，他从不付面包师的账单，直到它变成一张庞大的汇票。

It was about this time when Rastignac was down on his luck and fell into debt, that it became clear to the law student’s mind that he must have some more certain source of income if he meant to live as he had been doing. —
正是在这个拉斯汀尼亚克倒霉又负债累累的时候，法学生的头脑清楚地意识到，如果他打算像过去一样生活，他必须有一个更可靠的收入来源。 —

But while he groaned over the thorny problems of his precarious situation, he felt that he could not bring himself to renounce the pleasures of this extravagant life, and decided that he must continue it at all costs. —
尽管他为自己摇摆不定的处境而苦恼，他觉得自己无法割舍这种奢侈生活的乐趣，决定必须不惜一切继续下去。 —

His dreams of obtaining a fortune appeared more and more chimerical, and the real obstacles grew more formidable. —
他获得财富的梦想看起来越来越虚幻，现实的障碍也变得更加严峻。 —

His initiation into the secrets of the Nucingen household had revealed to him that if he were to attempt to use this love affair as a means of mending his fortunes, he must swallow down all sense of decency, and renounce all the generous ideas which redeem the sins of youth. —
他对新辛金家庭的秘密了解让他明白，如果他试图利用这段恋情来改善自己的财富状况，他必须忍受所有的廉耻，并放弃所有能弥补青春罪过的慷慨想法。 —

He had chosen this life of apparent splendor, but secretly gnawed by the canker worm of remorse, a life of fleeting pleasure dearly paid for by persistent pain; —
他选择了这个外表辉煌但暗中被悔恨折磨的生活，一个短暂的快乐生活，以持久的痛苦付出代价； —

like Le Distrait of La Bruyere, he had descended so far as to make his bed in a ditch; —
像勒·布吕耶的《心不在焉者》里的人一样，他下降到住在沟渠的地步； —

but (also like Le Distrait) he himself was uncontaminated as yet by the mire that stained his garments.
但（也像《心不在焉者》中的人一样），他自己尚未被污染，虽然他的衣服被污渍了。

“So we have killed our mandarin, have we?” said Bianchon one day as they left the dinner table.
“我们把我们的书生搞垮了，是吗？”比昂什昂有一天在饭桌上说。

“Not yet,” he answered, “but he is at his last gasp.”
“还没有，”他回答说，“但他快不行了。”

The medical student took this for a joke, but it was not a jest. —
这位医科学生把这当作笑话，但这不是一场玩笑。 —

Eugene had dined in the house that night for the first time for a long while, and had looked thoughtful during the meal. —
尤金那天晚上在这家吃饭，这是很久以来的第一次，吃饭期间看起来很思索。 —

He had taken his place beside Mlle. Taillefer, and stayed through the dessert, giving his neighbor an expressive glance from time to time. —
他坐在泰勒费尔小姐旁边，整顿甜点也没走，不时给邻座一个富有表情的眼神。 —

A few of the boarders discussed the walnuts at the table, and others walked about the room, still taking part in the conversation which had begun among them. —
有些宿客在桌子边讨论着胡桃，其他人在房间里徘徊，仍然参与着他们一开始的谈话。 —

People usually went when they chose; the amount of time that they lingered being determined by the amount of interest that the conversation possessed for them, or by the difficulty of the process of digestion. —
人们通常会在自己选择的时候离开；他们逗留的时间取决于对话内容对他们的兴趣或者消化过程的难度。 —

In winter-time the room was seldom empty before eight o’clock, when the four women had it all to themselves, and made up for the silence previously imposed upon them by the preponderating masculine element. —
冬天时候，房间在晚八点前很少空荡荡，那时，四位女士们独享空间，并弥补之前被压倒性的男性元素所强加的寂静。 —

This evening Vautrin had noticed Eugene’s abstractedness, and stayed in the room, though he had seemed to be in a hurry to finish his dinner and go. —
这天晚上，瓦特朗注意到尤金的心不在焉，并留在了房间里，尽管自己似乎急着结束晚餐离开。 —

All through the talk afterwards he had kept out of the sight of the law student, who quite believed that Vautrin had left the room. —
整晚的谈话中，他一直避开了法律学生的视线，法学生完全相信瓦特朗已经离开了房间。 —

He now took up his position cunningly in the sitting-room instead of going when the last boarders went. —
他现在在客厅诡计地占据位置，而不是随着最后一批宿客离开。 —

He had fathomed the young man’s thoughts, and felt that a crisis was at hand. —
他探寻了年轻人的想法，感觉到一个危机迫在眉睫。 —

Rastignac was, in fact, in a dilemma, which many another young man must have known.
事实上，拉斯坦尼亚克陷入了很多其他年轻人可能也曾有过的困境。

Mme. de Nucingen might love him, or might merely be playing with him, but in either case Rastignac had been made to experience all the alternations of hope and despair of genuine passion, and all the diplomatic arts of a Parisienne had been employed on him. —
努桑真情地爱他，或者只是在和他玩弄，但无论哪种情况，拉斯坦尼亚克都经历了爱情中所有希望和绝望的交替，巴黎女性的外交艺术都在对他施展。 —

After compromising herself by continually appearing in public with Mme. de Beauseant’s cousin she still hesitated, and would not give him the lover’s privileges which he appeared to enjoy. —
自始至终和博来松夫人表姐频繁在公众场合露面后，她仍然犹豫不决，并没有给予他那似乎享受的情人特权。 —

For a whole month she had so wrought on his senses, that at last she had made an impression on his heart. —
一个月来，她对他的感官产生了影响，最终在他的心中留下了印记。 —

If in the earliest days the student had fancied himself to be master, Mme. de Nucingen had since become the stronger of the two, for she had skilfully roused and played upon every instinct, good or bad, in the two or three men comprised in a young student in Paris. his was not the result of deep design on her part, nor was she playing a part, for women are in a manner true to themselves even through their grossest deceit, because their actions are prompted by a natural impulse. —
如果在最初的日子里，这位学生认为自己是主宰者，那么努桑真情在两人之中已经成为更强大的一方，因为她巧妙地唤起并玩弄了年轻巴黎学生心中的每个本能好坏，这并非出于她的深谋远虑，并不是在演戏，因为女人在某种意义上是自我真实的，即使通过她们最粗俗的欺骗，因为她们的行为都是受到自然冲动的驱使。 —

It may have been that Delphine, who had allowed this young man to gain such an ascendency over her, conscious that she had been too demonstrative, was obeying a sentiment of dignity, and either repented of her concessions, or it pleased her to suspend them. —
这可能是因为德尔芬允许这个年轻人控制她，意识到自己表现过火，正在遵循一种尊严感或者后悔自己的妥协，或者暂停这种妥协也许让她感到愉快。 —

It is so natural to a Parisienne, even when passion has almost mastered her, to hesitate and pause before taking the plunge; —
对于一个巴黎女人来说，即使激情几乎将她控制，也很自然地在跃进前犹豫和停顿; —

to probe the heart of him to whom she intrusts her future. —
在把她未来托付给某个人之前，探寻他的内心。 —

And once already Mme. de Nucingen’s hopes had been betrayed, and her loyalty to a selfish young lover had been despised. —
已经有一次，纳辛尚夫人的希望被背叛，她对一个自私的年轻情人的忠诚被蔑视。 —

She had good reason to be suspicious. Or it may have been that something in Eugene’s manner (for his rapid success was making a coxcomb of him) had warned her that the grotesque nature of their position had lowered her somewhat in his eyes. —
她有充分的理由怀疑。或许是尤金的某种态度（因为他的快速成功让他变得自负）警告她，他们处境的荒谬已经在某种程度上降低了她在他眼中的地位。 —

She doubtless wished to assert her dignity; he was young, and she would be great in his eyes; —
她无疑想要维护自己的尊严; 他年轻，她会在他眼中变得伟大; —

for the lover who had forsaken her had held her so cheap that she was determined that Eugene should not think he
因为背弃她的情人视她如草芥，她决心尤金不应该认为他是一个易得之物，正因为–他知道德·玛赛曾是他的前任。

r an easy conquest, and for this very reason–he knew that de Marsay had been his predecessor. —
最后，经历向一个冷酷的年轻花花公子讨好的屈辱后，沉浸在爱的花海中是如此甜蜜，以至于她希望在前景上停留一会儿，随着爱的振动颤栗，感受到清新的晨风的呼吸，这并不奇怪。 —

Finally, after the degradation of submission to the pleasure of a heartless young rake, it was so sweet to her to wander in the flower-strewn realms of love, that it was not wonderful that she should wish to dwell a while on the prospect, to tremble with the vibrations of love, to feel the freshness of the breath of its dawn. —
真正的爱人为虚假之人的罪受苦。 —

The true lover was suffering for the sins of the false. —
只要人们不了解第一次背叛对一个年轻女人心灵中被割下的多少花朵，这种矛盾就是意料之内的。 —

This inconsistency is unfortunately only to be expected so long as men do not know how many flowers are mown down in a young woman’s soul by the first stroke of treachery.
无论她的理由是什么，德尔芬正在和拉斯内克玩弄，而且乐在其中，无疑因为她确信他的爱，自信她可以在她想要的时候结束这种折磨。

Whatever her reasons may have been, Delphine was playing with Rastignac, and took pleasure in playing with him, doubtless because she felt sure of his love, and confident that she could put an end to the torture as soon as it was her royal pleasure to do so. —
尤金的自尊心受到了挑战; 他不能容忍他的初恋以失败告终，坚持追求，就像一个决心至少击落一只鹧鸪以庆祝他的圣胡伯特节的运动员一样。 —

Eugene’s self-love was engaged; he could not suffer his first passage of love to end in a defeat, and persisted in his suit like a sportsman determined to bring down at least one partridge to celebrate his first Feast of Saint-Hubert. —
焦虑的压力，被伤害的自尊心，他的绝望，真实或假装的，使他越来越靠近这个女人。 —

The pressure of anxiety, his wounded self-love, his despair, real or feigned, drew him nearer and nearer to this woman. —
全巴黎都认为他俘获了这位女士，然而他却意识到自见到纳辛尚夫人的第一天以来，他并没有取得任何进展。 —

All Paris credited him with this conquest, and yet he was conscious that he had made no progress since the day when he saw Mme. de Nucingen for the first time. —
如此迅速获得成功，但他意识到自他第一次见到纳辛尚夫人以来，并没有迈进。 —

He did not know as yet that a woman’s coquetry is sometimes more delightful than the pleasure of secure possession of her love, and was possessed with helpless rage. —
他还不知道，女人的媚态有时比拥有她的爱的安全感更令人愉悦，而他却被无助的愤怒所占据。 —

If, at this time, while she denied herself to love, Eugene gathered the springtide spoils of his life, the fruit, somewhat sharp and green, and dearly bought, was no less delicious to the taste. —
如果在她拒绝爱的时候，尤金正逐渐收获他生活的春日战利品，即使这果实有些酸涩而且昂贵，对味蕾的美味仍然不减。 —

There were moments when he had not a sou in his pockets, and at such times he thought in spite of his conscience of Vautrin’s offer and the possibility of fortune by a marriage with Mlle. Taillefer. —
有时他口袋里一文不名，那时贫困的响声很响，他曾一再考虑瓦特兰的提议以及通过和泰莱费小姐结婚来获得财富的可能性。 —

Poverty would clamor so loudly that more than once he was on the point of yielding to the cunning temptations of the terrible sphinx, whose glance had so often exerted a strange spell over him.
贫穷会如此响亮地叫嚷，以至于他不止一次快要屈服于那可怕的斯芬克斯的诡计诱惑，她那神情已经多次对他产生一种奇特的魔力。

Poiret and Mlle. Michonneau went up to their rooms; —
普瓦雷和米修瓦依次走进他们的房间； —

and Rastignac, thinking that he was alone with the women in the dining-room, sat between Mme. Vauquer and Mme. Couture, who was nodding over the woolen cuffs that she was knitting by the stove, and looked at Mlle. Taillefer so tenderly that she lowered her eyes.
而拉斯蒂尼亚克以为自己独自一人与餐室里的女人们同处，坐在瓦克夫人和库图尔夫人中间，后者正打着瞌睡，坐在火炉旁织毛衣套缘，目光温柔地落在泰莱费小姐身上，于是他也看着她。

“Can you be in trouble, M. Eugene?” Victorine said after a pause.
“尤金先生，你是不是有麻烦？” 维多林在停顿后问道。

“Who has not his troubles?” answered Rastignac. —
“谁没有麻烦呢？” 拉斯蒂尼亚克回答道。 —

“If we men were sure of being loved, sure of a devotion which would be our reward for the sacrifices which we are always ready to make, then perhaps we should have no troubles.”
“如果我们男人能够确定被爱，确定会有一种忠诚，那是对我们作出的牺牲的回报，也许我们就不会有麻烦。”

For answer Mlle. Taillefer only gave him a glance but it was impossible to mistake its meaning.
泰莱费小姐只是看了他一眼，但不可能误解其含义。

“You, for instance, mademoiselle; you feel sure of your heart today, but are you sure that it will never change?”
“比如说，小姐；今天你对你的心肯定，但你能确定它永远不会改变吗？”

A smile flitted over the poor girl’s lips; —
一个微笑掠过这位可怜女孩的嘴角； —

it seemed as if a ray of light from her soul had lighted up her face. —
仿佛她灵魂中的光辉点亮了她的脸庞。 —

Eugene was dismayed at the sudden explosion of feeling caused by his words.
尤金对他的话所引发的突然情感爆发感到惊愕。

“Ah! but suppose,” he said, “that you should be rich and happy to-morrow, suppose that a vast fortune dropped down from the clouds for you, would you still love the man whom you loved in your days of poverty?”
“啊！但是，不过假使，” 他说，“如果明天你突然变得富有且幸福，假使有一笔巨大的财富从天而降到你身上，你仍会爱上在贫困时期爱过的那个男人吗？”

A charming movement of the head was her only answer.
她只是婉转地点点头。

“Even if he were very poor?”
“即使他非常贫穷呢？”

Again the same mute answer.
同样是无言以对。

“What nonsense are you talking, you two?” exclaimed Mme. Vauquer.
“你们两个在胡说什么？”瓦克夫人惊叫道。

“Never mind,” answered Eugene; “we understand each other.”
“不要紧，”尤金回答道；”我们彼此心照不宣。

“So there is to be an engagement of marriage between M. le Chevalier Eugene de Rastignac and Mlle. Victorine Taillefer, is there?” —
“那么，勒什丁纳克骑士尤金和维克多林妮·泰莉费相互订婚了？” —

The words were uttered in Vautrin’s deep voice, and Vautrin appeared at the door as he spoke.
这些话是沃特兰用沉稳的声音说的，说话间他已经出现在门口。

“Oh! how you startled me!” Mme. Couture and Mme. Vauquer exclaimed together.
“哦！你吓到我了！”库图尔夫人和瓦克夫人同时惊叫道。

“I might make a worse choice,” said Rastignac, laughing. —
“我选择可能还不错，”拉斯坦尼亚克笑着说。 —

Vautrin’s voice had thrown him into the most painful agitation that he had yet known.
沃特兰的声音让他陷入前所未有的痛苦慌乱之中。

“No bad jokes, gentlemen!” said Mme. Couture. “My dear, let us go upstairs.”
“不要开这样的玩笑，先生们！”库图尔夫人说道，”亲爱的，我们上楼去吧。”

Mme. Vauquer followed the two ladies, meaning to pass the evening in their room, an arrangement that economized fire and candlelight. —
瓦克夫人跟着这两位女士上楼，打算在她们的房间里度过晚上，这样既省了取暖和照明的费用。 —

Eugene and Vautrin were left alone.
尤金和沃特兰留在了房间里。

“I felt sure you would come round to it,” said the elder man with the coolness that nothing seemed to shake. —
“我敢肯定你会同意的，”年长的男子以毫不动摇的冷静说道。 —

“But stay a moment! I have as much delicacy as anybody else. —
“但等一下！我和任何人一样有礼貌。” —

Don’t make up your mind on the spur of the moment; —
不要轻率地做决定； —

you are a little thrown off your balance just now. —
你现在有点失去平衡。 —

You are in debt, and I want you to come over to my way of thinking after sober reflection, and not in a fit of passion or desperation. —
你负债累累，我希望你能在冷静思考后，而不是在激情或绝望中，接受我的观点。 —

Perhaps you want a thousand crowns. There, you can have them if you like.”
也许你想要一千皇冠。好吧，如果你愿意的话，你可以拿走。

The tempter took out a pocketbook, and drew thence three banknotes, which he fluttered before the student’s eyes. —
诱惑者掏出钱夹，从中拿出三张钞票，在学生的眼前晃动。 —

Eugene was in a most painful dilemma. He had debts, debts of honor. —
尤金陷入了一个非常痛苦的困境。他欠下了一笔荣誉债务。 —

He owed a hundred louis to the Marquis d’Ajuda and to the Count de Trailles; —
他欠玛欣达华侯爵和特里耶伯爵各一百卢易。 —

he had not the money, and for this reason had not dared to go to Mme. de Restaud’s house, where he was expected that evening. —
他没有这笔钱，因此没有敢去玛达侯爵夫人的家，尽管他当晚被邀请。 —

It was one of those informal gatherings where tea and little cakes are handed round, but where it is possible to lose six thousand francs at whist in the course of a night.
那是一个轻松的聚会，茶和小蛋糕在其中，但在一个晚上打桥牌可能输掉六千法郎。

“You must see,” said Eugene, struggling to hide a convulsive tremor, “that after what has passed between us, I cannot possibly lay myself under any obligation to you.”
“你必须明白，”尤金努力隐藏着一种痉挛的颤抖，“在我们之间发生过的事情之后，我不可能欠你人情。”

“Quite right; I should be sorry to hear you speak otherwise,” answered the tempter. —
“完全正确；听到你这样说我会很难过，”诱惑者回答道。 —

“You are a fine young fellow, honorable, brave as a lion, and as gentle as a young girl. —
“你是一个出色的年轻人，诚实，勇敢如狮子，又如年轻女孩一般温柔。 —

You would be a fine haul for the devil! I like youngsters of your sort. —
你将成为恶魔的一大收获！我喜欢你这样的年轻人。 —

Get rid of one or two more prejudices, and you will see the world as it is. —
再去掉一两个偏见，您就会看到现实世界的真相。 —

Make a little scene now and then, and act a virtuous part in it, and a man with a head on his shoulders can do exactly as he likes amid deafening applause from the fools in the gallery. —
偶尔闹一小场，扮演一个正直的角色，在愚人们的欢呼声中，一个有头脑的人可以为所欲为。 —

Ah! a few days yet, and you will be with us; —
啊！再过几天，你就会和我们在一起； —

and if you would only be tutored by me, I would put you in the way of achieving all your ambitions. —
如果你肯接受我的教诲，我会帮助你实现所有的抱负。 —

You should no sooner form a wish than it should be realized to the full; —
你刚有个愿望，它就会完全实现； —

you should have all your desires–honors, wealth, or women. —
你会拥有所有你想要的 - 荣誉、财富或女人。 —

Civilization should flow with milk and honey for you. —
文明将为你流淌着牛奶和蜂蜜。 —

You should be our pet and favorite, our Benjamin. —
你将会成为我们的宠儿和宠物，我们的本雅明。 —

We would all work ourselves to death for you with pleasure; —
我们会乐意为你拼命工作，直至死去； —

every obstacle should be removed from your path. You have a few prejudices left; —
你还保留了一些偏见； —

so you think that I am a scoundrel, do you? —
所以你认为我是个恶棍，是吗？ —

Well, M. de Turenne, quite as honorable a man as you take yourself to be, had some little private transactions with `andits, and did not feel that his honor was tarnished. —
好吧，图伦尼先生，一个像你自认为那样诚实的人，也曾私下与流氓有些交易，却不觉得自己的名誉受损。 —

You would rather not lie under any obligation to me, eh? —
你宁愿不欠我人情，是吧？ —

You need not draw back on that account,” Vautrin went on, and a smile stole over his lips. —
在这一点上你无需犹豫，”瓦特兰接着说，脸上露出微笑。 —

“Take these bits of paper and write across this,” he added, producing a piece of stamped paper, “Accepted the sum of three thousand five hundred francs due this day twelvemonth, and fill in the date. —
把这些纸条拿着，在上面写：我欠你的三千五百法郎，今天的到期日，填上日期。 —

The rate of interest is stiff enough to silence any scruples on your part; —
利息的比例够高，足以让你不再有疑虑； —

it gives you the right to call me a Jew. You can call quits with me on the score of gratitude. —
这让你有权说我是犹太人。你可以用感激来跟我了账。 —

I am quite willing that you should despise me to-day, because I am sure that you will have a kindlier feeling towards me later on. —
我很乐意让你今天看不起我，因为我相信以后你会对我有更温和的感情。 —

You will find out fathomless depths in my nature, enormous and concentrated forces that weaklings call vices, but you will never find me base or ungrate
你会发现我的本性有着深不可测的深度，庞大而集中的力量，懦夫们称之为恶习，但你永远不会发现我卑劣或忘恩负义。

ful. In short, I am neither a pawn nor a bishop, but a castle, a tower of strength, my boy.”
简单来说，我既不是一个象棋子，也不是一个象，而是一个城堡，一座坚固的堡垒，我的孩子。

“What manner of man are you?” cried Eugene. “Were you created to torment me?”
“你是怎样的一个人？”尤金大声问道。“你是创造出来来折磨我的吗？”

“Why no; I am a good-natured fellow, who is willing to do a dirty piece of work to put you high and dry above the mire for the rest of your days. —
“当然不是；我是一个好心肠的家伙，愿意做一件龌龊的事，让你在余生中摆脱泥潭而高高在上。 —

Do you ask the reason of this devotion? All right; I will tell you that some of these days. —
你要问这份奉献的原因？好吧；我会在某一天告诉你。 —

A word or two in your ear will explain it. —
再告诉你几句话会解释清楚。 —

I have begun by shocking you, by showing you the way to ring the changes, and giving you a sight of the mechanism of the social machine; —
我开始时震惊你，向你展示变化的方法，让你看到社会机器的构造； —

but your first fright will go off like a conscript’s terror on the battlefield. —
但你的第一惊恐会像战场上新兵的恐惧一样消散。 —

You will grow used to regarding men as common soldiers who have made up their minds to lose their lives for some self-constituted king. —
你会习惯把人看作是普通士兵，他们已下定决心为某位自封国王献出生命。 —

Times have altered strangely. Once you could say to a bravo, ‘Here are a hundred crowns; —
时代已经发生了奇特的变化。曾经你可以对一个刺客说，“这里有一百个金币； —

go and kill Monsieur So-and-so for me,’ and you could sup quietly after turning some one off into the dark for the least thing in the world. —
去杀死某某先生给我”，然后就可以安心地在不费吹灰之力让某人消失在黑暗中。 —

But nowadays I propose to put you in the way of a handsome fortune; —
但如今我打算给你指条捷径通向一个美好的财富； —

you have only to nod your head, it won’t compromise you in any way, and you hesitate. —
你只需点点头，这不会让你陷入任何困境，而你却犹豫不决。 —

‘Tis an effeminate age.”
这是一个懦弱的时代。