When I reached London I found waiting for me an urgent request that I should go to Mrs. Strickland’s as soon after dinner as I could. —
当我到达伦敦时，我发现有一封紧急请求等着我，要求我在晚饭后尽快去斯特里克兰太太那里。 —

I found her with Colonel MacAndrew and his wife. —
我发现她和麦克安德鲁上校及其妻子在一起。 —

Mrs. Strickland’s sister was older than she, not unlike her, but more faded; —
斯特里克兰太太的姐姐比她年长，与她有些相似，但更加黯淡； —

and she had the efficient air, as though she carried the British Empire in her pocket, which the wives of senior officers acquire from the consciousness of belonging to a superior caste. —
她有着干练的风度，仿佛把大英帝国揣在口袋里，这种感觉来自于高级军官妻子对自身属于更优越社会阶层的自信。 —

Her manner was brisk, and her good-breeding scarcely concealed her conviction that if you were not a soldier you might as well be a counter-jumper. —
她的态度干脆利落，她的好教养几乎掩盖不住她的信念，即如果你不是军人，那你最好像个小贩一样。 —

She hated the Guards, whom she thought conceited, and she could not trust herself to speak of their ladies, who were so remiss in calling. —
她憎恨卫队，认为他们自以为是，而且她无法相信自己说他们的女士们，她们那么怠慢而不去打招呼。 —

Her gown was dowdy and expensive.
她的连衣裙虽然朴素但昂贵。

Mrs. Strickland was plainly nervous.
斯特里克兰太太显然很紧张。

“Well, tell us your news, ” she said.
“好了，告诉我们你的消息，”她说。

“I saw your husband. I’m afraid he’s quite made up his mind not to return. —
“我见到了你丈夫。恐怕他已经下定决心不回来了。 —

” I paused a little. “He wants to paint. “
“我停顿了一下。”他想要画画。”

“What do you mean?” cried Mrs. Strickland, with the utmost astonishment.
“你是什么意思？”斯特里克兰太太震惊地说。

“Did you never know that he was keen on that sort of thing. “
“你从未知道他对那种东西很着迷。”

“He must be as mad as a hatter, ” exclaimed the Colonel.
“他一定像疯帽匠一样疯了，”上校叫道。

Mrs. Strickland frowned a little. She was searching among her recollections.
斯特里克兰太太皱了一下眉头。她在回忆中搜寻着。

“I remember before we were married he used to potter about with a paint-box. —
“我记得我们结婚前，他常常在那边涂鸦。” —

But you never saw such daubs. We used to chaff him. —
“但你从来没见过那样的乱画。我们经常拿他开玩笑。” —

He had absolutely no gift for anything like that. “
“他绝对没有天赋做那样的事。”

“Of course it’s only an excuse, ” said Mrs. MacAndrew.
“当然这只是一个借口，”麦安德鲁夫人说。

Mrs. Strickland pondered deeply for some time. —
“斯特里克兰夫人沉思了很长时间。” —

It was quite clear that she could not make head or tail of my announcement. —
“很明显她对我的宣布一头雾水。” —

She had put some order into the drawing-room by now, her housewifely instincts having got the better of her dismay; —
“她现在已经整理好客厅，她那种贤惠的本能战胜了她的惊愕；” —

and it no longer bore that deserted look, like a furnished house long to let, which I had noticed on my first visit after the catastrophe. —
“现在客厅不再那么像一个长时间待售的家具齐全的房子，这是我在灾难发生后第一次到访时注意到的。” —

But now that I had seen Strickland in Paris it was difficult to imagine him in those surroundings. —
“但现在我在巴黎看到了斯特里克兰，很难想象他在那种环境中。” —

I thought it could hardly have failed to strike them that there was something incongruous in him.
“我认为他们几乎肯定会觉得他有些格格不入。”

“But if he wanted to be an artist, why didn’t he say so?” asked Mrs. Strickland at last. —
“但如果他想成为一名艺术家，为什么不直接说呢？”最后斯特里克兰夫人问。 —

“I should have thought I was the last person to be unsympathetic to – to aspirations of that kind. “
“我本以为我是最后一个对那种志向不能同情的人。”

Mrs. MacAndrew tightened her lips. I imagine that she had never looked with approval on her sister’s leaning towards persons who cultivated the arts. —
“麦安德鲁夫人收紧了嘴唇。我想她从来不赞同她妹妹倾向于那些从事艺术的人。” —

She spoke of “culchaw” derisively.
“她嘲笑地说起“文化”。”

Mrs. Strickland continued:
“斯特里克兰夫人继续说：”

“After all, if he had any talent I should be the first to encourage it. —
“毕竟，如果他有才华，我应该是第一个鼓励他的人。” —

I wouldn’t have minded sacrifices. I’d much rather be married to a painter than to a stockbroker. —
“我不介意牺牲。我宁愿嫁给一个画家，也不愿嫁给一个股票经纪人。” —

If it weren’t for the children, I wouldn’t mind anything. —
“如果不是因为孩子们，我什么都不在乎。” —

I could be just as happy in a shabby studio in Chelsea as in this flat. “
“我在切尔西一个破旧的画室里，同样可以快乐，就像在这个公寓里一样。”

“My dear, I have no patience with you, ” cried Mrs. MacAndrew. —
“亲爱的，我无法忍受你，”麦克安德鲁夫人大声说。 —

“You don’t mean to say you believe a word of this nonsense?”
“你不是说你相信这一堆废话吧？”

“But I think it’s true, ” I put in mildly.
“但是我认为这是真的，”我温和地插嘴道。

She looked at me with good-humoured contempt.
她鄙视地看着我。

“A man doesn’t throw up his business and leave his wife and children at the age of forty to become a painter unless there’s a woman in it. —
“一个40岁的人不可能放弃他的事业，抛弃妻子和孩子去当画家，除非里面牵扯到一个女人。” —

I suppose he met one of your – artistic friends, and she’s turned his head. “
“我想他遇到了你的某个—艺术家朋友，她迷住了他。”

A spot of colour rose suddenly to Mrs. Strickland’s pale cheeks.
斯特里克兰太太的苍白脸颊突然泛起一丝红晕。

“What is she like?”
“她是什么样子的？”

I hesitated a little. I knew that I had a bombshell.
我犹豫了一下。我知道我要爆炸一颗炸弹。

“There isn’t a woman. “
“没有女人。”

Colonel MacAndrew and his wife uttered expressions of incredulity, and Mrs. Strickland sprang to her feet.
麦克安德鲁上校夫人发出难以置信的表情，而斯特里克兰太太踉跄站起身。

“Do you mean to say you never saw her?”
“你是不是意味着你从未见过她？”

“There’s no one to see. He’s quite alone. “
“没有人需要见。他是孤身一人。”

“That’s preposterous, ” cried Mrs. MacAndrew.
“这太荒谬了，”麦克安德鲁夫人喊道。

“I knew I ought to have gone over myself, ” said the Colonel. —
“我知道我应该亲自过去的，”上校说。 —

“You can bet your boots I’d have routed her out fast enough. “
“你可以打赌你的靴子，我会迅速把她找出来。”

“I wish you had gone over, ” I replied, somewhat tartly. —
“我希望你去过那里，”我有点刻薄地回答。 —

“You’d have seen that every one of your suppositions was wrong. He’s not at a smart hotel. —
“你会看到你所有的假设都是错误的。他不在高级酒店。” —

He’s living in one tiny room in the most squalid way. —
他以最肮脏的方式生活在一个狭小的房间里。 —

If he’s left his home, it’s not to live a gay life. —
如果他离开家，并不是为了过上快乐的生活。 —

He’s got hardly any money. “
他几乎没有钱。

“Do you think he’s done something that we don’t know about, and is lying doggo on account of the police?”
“你觉得他是不是做了我们不知道的事情，现在在躲避警方？”

The suggestion sent a ray of hope in all their breasts, but I would have nothing to do with it.
这个建议给所有人带来了一丝希望，但我不愿涉足其中。

“If that were so, he would hardly have been such a fool as to give his partner his address, ” I retorted acidly. —
“如果是这样，他应该不会如此愚蠢地把他的地址给了伙伴，”我尖刻地回答道。 —

“Anyhow, there’s one thing I’m positive of, he didn’t go away with anyone. —
“无论如何，我可以确定的是，他没有和任何人一起离开。 —

He’s not in love. Nothing is farther from his thoughts. “
他并不是恋爱中。这根本不在他考虑的范围内。”

There was a pause while they reflected over my words.
他们沉思着我的话语，一时沉默了。

“Well, if what you say is true, ” said Mrs. MacAndrew at last, “things aren’t so bad as I thought. “
“好吧，如果你说的是真的，” 最后Mac安德鲁夫人说道，”情况没有我想象的那么糟糕。”

Mrs. Strickland glanced at her, but said nothing.
Strickland夫人看了看她，但没有说话。

She was very pale now, and her fine brow was dark and lowering. —
她现在脸色非常苍白，她美丽的额头阴沉而威胁。 —

I could not understand the expression of her face. Mrs. MacAndrew continued:
我无法理解她脸上的表情。Mac安德鲁夫人继续说道：

“If it’s just a whim, he’ll get over it. “
“如果这只是一时的心血来潮，他会克服的。”

“Why don’t you go over to him, Amy?” hazarded the Colonel. —
“Amy，你为什么不去找他呢？” 上校大胆提议道。 —

“There’s no reason why you shouldn’t live with him in Paris for a year. —
你和他在巴黎一起生活一年没有任何理由不可以。 —

We’ll look after the children. I dare say he’d got stale. —
我们会照顾孩子。我敢说他已经有些厌倦了。 —

Sooner or later he’ll be quite ready to come back to London, and no great harm will have been done. “
迟早他会完全准备好回到伦敦，而不会造成太大的伤害。

“I wouldn’t do that, ” said Mrs. MacAndrew. “I’d give him all the rope he wants. —
“我不会这样做，”麦克安德鲁夫人说道。“我给他想要的所有自由。” —

He’ll come back with his tail between his legs and settle down again quite comfortably. —
他会带着被惩罚的尾巴回来，并且再次舒适地安顿下来。 —

” Mrs. MacAndrew looked at her sister coolly. —
麦克安德鲁夫人冷静地看着她的姐妹。 —

“Perhaps you weren’t very wise with him sometimes. —
“也许你有时对他不够明智。 —

Men are queer creatures, and one has to know how to manage them. “
男人是古怪的动物，人们必须知道如何管理他们。”

Mrs. MacAndrew shared the common opinion of her sex that a man is always a brute to leave a woman who is attached to him, but that a woman is much to blame if he does. —
麦克安德鲁夫人认同女性普遍看法，认为如果一个男人离开了一个对他有感情的女人，那他总是个畜生，但如果他离开了，那么这个女人就很有责任。 —

Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait pas.
Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas.

Mrs. Strickland looked slowly from one to another of us.
斯特里克兰夫人慢慢地从我们中的一个看向另一个。

“He’ll never come back, ” she said.
“他永远不会回来，”她说。

“Oh, my dear, remember what we’ve just heard. —
“哦，亲爱的，请记住我们刚听到的。 —

He’s been used to comfort and to having someone to look after him. —
他习惯了舒适和有人照顾他。 —

How long do you think it’ll be before he gets tired of a scrubby room in a scrubby hotel? —
你认为他会多久才会厌倦一个破旧酒店中的破旧的房间？ —

Besides, he hasn’t any money. He must come back. “
况且，他也没有钱。他必须得回来。

“As long as I thought he’d run away with some woman I thought there was a chance. —
只要我一直以为他跟某个女人私奔了，我就觉得还有希望。 —

I don’t believe that sort of thing ever answers. —
我不相信那种事情会有所答案。 —

He’d have got sick to death of her in three months. —
他会在三个月内对她厌烦透顶。 —

But if he hasn’t gone because he’s in love, then it’s finished. “
但如果他没有因为爱情才离开，那么一切都结束了。

“Oh, I think that’s awfully subtle, ” said the Colonel, putting into the word all the contempt he felt for a quality so alien to the traditions of his calling. —
“哦，我觉得这太微妙了，”上校说，用这个词来表达他对这种与他所从事职业传统格格不入的品质的鄙夷。 —

“Don’t you believe it. He’ll come back, and, as Dorothy says, I dare say he’ll be none the worse for having had a bit of a fling. “
“别相信。他会回来的，并且，正如多萝西所说，他或许因为经历了一点风流而变得更好了。

“But I don’t want him back, ” she said.
“但我不想要他回来，”她说。

“Amy!”
“艾米！”

It was anger that had seized Mrs. Strickland, and her pallor was the pallor of a cold and sudden rage. —
玛丽夫人被愤怒冲昏了头脑，她的面色因突如其来的愤怒而苍白。 —

She spoke quickly now, with little gasps.
她现在说话迅速，带着呼吸急促。

“I could have forgiven it if he’d fallen desperately in love with someone and gone off with her. —
“如果他深深爱上某个人然后和她一起离开，我本来会原谅的。 —

I should have thought that natural. I shouldn’t really have blamed him. —
我会觉得那是自然的。我并不会真的责怪他。 —

I should have thought he was led away. Men are so weak, and women are so unscrupulous. —
我会认为是被引诱了。男人是如此薄弱，而女人是如此肆无忌惮。 —

But this is different. I hate him. I’ll never forgive him now. “
但这却是不同的。我恨他。我永远不会原谅他了。

Colonel MacAndrew and his wife began to talk to her together. They were astonished. —
上校麦克安德鲁和他的妻子一起开始和她交谈。他们感到惊讶。 —

They told her she was mad. They could not understand. —
他们告诉她她疯了。他们无法理解。 —

Mrs. Strickland turned desperately to me.
斯特里克兰太太绝望地转向我。

“Don’t you see?” she cried.
“你难道没有看出来吗？”她喊道。

“I’m not sure. Do you mean that you could have forgiven him if he’d left you for a woman, but not if he’s left you for an idea? —
“我不确定。你是不是想说，如果他离开你是为了一个女人，你可以原谅他，但是如果他是因为一个想法离开你，你就原谅不了？ —

You think you’re a match for the one, but against the other you’re helpless?”
你觉得你可以胜过前者，但对于后者你是无能为力的？”

Mrs. Strickland gave mt a look in which I read no great friendliness, but did not answer. —
斯特里克兰太太向我投来一种不太友好的眼神，但没有回答。 —

Perhaps I had struck home. She went on in a low and trembling voice:
也许我说中了她的心事。她用低低的颤抖声音继续说道：

“I never knew it was possible to hate anyone as much as I hate him. —
“我从来没有想过有可能如此恨一个人。 —

Do you know, I’ve been comforting myself by thinking that however long it lasted he’d want me at the end? —
你知道吗，我一直以来一直安慰自己，即使持续多久，他最终也会想念我。 —

I knew when he was dying he’d send for me, and I was ready to go; —
我知道当他快要死的时候，他会召唤我，而我已经准备好去； —

I’d have nursed him like a mother, and at the last I’d have told him that it didn’t matter, I’d loved him always, and I forgave him everything. “
我会像妈妈一样照料他，最后我会告诉他，这一切都无所谓，我一直都爱着他，并原谅他的一切。”

I have always been a little disconcerted by the passion women have for behaving beautifully at the death-bed of those they love. —
我始终对女人在所爱之人临终时表现得漂亮的激情感到有些不安。 —

Sometimes it seems as if they grudge the longevity which postpones their chance of an effective scene.
有时候，她们似乎嫉妒让她们无法实现有效场面的长寿。

“But now – now it’s finished. I’m as indifferent to him as if he were a stranger. —
“但现在 – 现在都结束了。我对他的漠不关心就像他是一个陌生人一样。” —

I should like him to die miserable, poor, and starving, without a friend. —
我希望他在贫困和饥饿中孤独地死去。 —

I hope he’ll rot with some loathsome disease. —
我希望他被某种令人作呕的疾病折磨。 —

I’ve done with him. “
我和他完了。

I thought it as well then to say what Strickland had suggested.
我当时觉得还是说说斯特里克兰的建议比较好。

“If you want to divorce him, he’s quite willing to do whatever is necessary to make it possible. “
“如果你想离婚，他非常愿意做任何必要的事情来实现。”

“Why should I give him his freedom?”
“为什么要给他自由呢？”

“I don’t think he wants it. He merely thought it might be more convenient to you. “
“我不认为他想要。他只是觉得这样对你可能更方便。”

Mrs. Strickland shrugged her shoulders impatiently. I think I was a little disappointed in her. —
斯特里克兰太太不耐烦地耸了耸肩。我觉得我有点对她失望。 —

I expected then people to be more of a piece than I do now, and I was distressed to find so much vindictiveness in so charming a creature. —
那时我以为人应该更加一致，而现在我发现这么个迷人的人物竟有如此多的恶毒。 —

I did not realise how motley are the qualities that go to make up a human being. —
我没有意识到构成一个人的特质是如此丰富多彩的。 —

Now I am well aware that pettiness and grandeur, malice and charity, hatred and love, can find place side by side in the same human heart.
现在我深知卑微与伟大、恶毒与仁爱、仇恨与爱可以并存于同一个人心之中。

I wondered if there was anything I could say that would ease the sense of bitter humiliation which at present tormented Mrs. Strickland. —
我想知道有没有什么话可以减轻斯特里克兰太太当前对自己的痛苦感。 —

I thought I would try.
我决定尝试一下。

“You know, I’m not sure that your husband is quite responsible for his actions. —
“你知道，我不确定你丈夫是否完全对自己的行为负责。 —

I do not think he is himself. He seems to me to be possessed by some power which is using him for its own ends, and in whose hold he is as helpless as a fly in a spider’s web. —
我认为他不是他自己。他似乎被某种力量所控制，这个力量利用他为了自己的目的，而他却像被困在蜘蛛网中的苍蝇一样无助。” —

It’s as though someone had cast a spell over him. —
就好像有人在他身上施了咒。 —

I’m reminded of those strange stories one sometimes hears of another personality entering into a man and driving out the old one. —
我想起了有时候听说的那些奇怪的故事，说有另一个人格进入一个人体内，驱走旧的那个。 —

The soul lives unstably in the body, and is capable of mysterious transformations. —
灵魂不稳定地居住在身体中，能够发生神秘的变化。 —

In the old days they would say Charles Strickland had a devil. “
旧时他们会说查尔斯·斯特里克兰有一个魔鬼。

Mrs. MacAndrew smoothed down the lap of her gown, and gold bangles fell over her wrists.
麦克安德鲁夫人抚平了裙襟，金手镯滑过她的手腕。

“All that seems to me very far-fetched, ” she said acidly. —
“我觉得那一切都很牵强,“她尖刻地说道。 —

“I don’t deny that perhaps Amy took her husband a little too much for granted. —
“我不否认或许艾米对她丈夫太过理所当然。 —

If she hadn’t been so busy with her own affairs, I can’t believe that she wouldn’t have suspected something was the matter. —
如果她没有忙于自己的事务，我觉得她一定会觉察到有些事情不对劲。 —

I don’t think that Alec could have something on his mind for a year or more without my having a pretty shrewd idea of it. “
我觉得如果艾利克有一年甚至更长时间埋怨的事情,我不可能对此一无所悉。”

The Colonel stared into vacancy, and I wondered whether anyone could be quite so innocent of guile as he looked.
上校盯着虚空，我想知道是否真的有人看起来像他那样纯真无邪。

“But that doesn’t prevent the fact that Charles Strickland is a heartless beast. —
“但这并不改变查尔斯·斯特里克兰是个无情的兽。 —

” She looked at me severely. “I can tell you why he left his wife – from pure selfishness and nothing else whatever. “
“她严厉地看着我说，”我可以告诉你他离开他妻子的原因–纯粹出自自私，没有别的理由。

“That is certainly the simplest explanation, ” I said. But I thought it explained nothing. —
“那当然是最简单的解释，”我说。但我认为这解释了什么都没有。 —

When, saying I was tired, I rose to go, Mrs. Strickland made no attempt to detain me.
当我说我累了要走时，斯特里克兰夫人并没有留我下来的意思。