But though I was no less convinced than Stroeve that the connection between Strickland and Blanche would end disastrously, I did not expect the issue to take the tragic form it did. —
尽管我和斯特罗夫一样确信斯特里克兰和布兰奇之间的关系将以悲剧收场，但我并没有预料到问题会以这种悲剧性的形式发展。 —

The summer came, breathless and sultry, and even at night there was no coolness to rest one’s jaded nerves. —
夏天来了，闷热无风，即使在夜晚也没有凉爽的感觉来舒缓我疲惫的神经。 —

The sun-baked streets seemed to give back the heat that had beat down on them during the day, and the passers-by dragged their feet along them wearily. —
阳光灼热的街道似乎回荡着白天的热量，路人们疲惫地拖着脚步走过。 —

I had not seen Strickland for weeks. Occupied with other things, I had ceased to think of him and his affairs. —
我已经好几周没有见到过斯特里克兰了。我忙于其他事情，已经不再想起他和他的事务。 —

Dirk, with his vain lamentations, had begun to bore me, and I avoided his society. —
迪尔克用他的自言自语开始让我厌烦，我避开了他的社交。 —

It was a sordid business, and I was not inclined to trouble myself with it further.
这是件肮脏的事情，我不想再为此烦恼。

One morning I was working. I sat in my Pyjamas. —
一天早晨，我正在工作。我穿着睡衣坐着。 —

My thoughts wandered, and I thought of the sunny beaches of Brittany and the freshness of the sea. —
我的思绪飘忽，我想起了布列塔尼阳光普照的海滩和海水的清新。 —

By my side was the empty bowl in which the concierge had brought me my cafe au lait and the fragment of croissant which I had not had appetite enough to eat. —
我身边是那个看门人给我端来咖啡和未吃完的十字面包片的空碗。 —

I heard the concierge in the next room emptying my bath. —
我听见看门人在隔壁把我的浴缸倒空了。 —

There was a tinkle at my bell, and I left her to open the door. —
门铃响了一声，我让她去开门。 —

In a moment I heard Stroeve’s voice asking if I was in. —
过了一会儿，我听见斯特罗夫的声音问我在不在。 —

Without moving, I shouted to him to come. —
我没有动，向他喊让他进来。 —

He entered the room quickly, and came up to the table at which I sat.
他迅速走进房间，走到我坐着的桌子旁。

“She’s killed herself, ” he said hoarsely.
“她自杀了，”他沙哑地说。

“What do you mean?” I cried, startled.
“你是什么意思？”我叫了起来，吓了一跳。

He made movements with his lips as though he were speaking, but no sound issued from them. —
他嘴唇动了起来，仿佛在说话，但没有声音传出。 —

He gibbered like an idiot. My heart thumped against my ribs, and, I do not know why, I flew into a temper.
他像个白痴般喃喃不清。我的心怦怦跳动，我不知道为什么，就发火了。

“For God’s sake, collect yourself, man, ” I said. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“天哪，镇静一点，伙计，”我说道。“你到底在说什么？”

He made despairing gestures with his hands, but still no words came from his mouth. —
他绝望地挥动着手，但嘴里仍然没有出声。 —

He might have been struck dumb. I do not know what came over me; —
他仿佛失声了。我不知道自己怎么了; —

I took him by the shoulders and shook him. —
我揪住他的肩膀摇晃起来。 —

Looking back, I am vexed that I made such a fool of myself; —
回想起来，我为自己当时表现得如此愚蠢而感到恼火; —

I suppose the last restless nights had shaken my nerves more than I knew.
我想最近那些不安的夜晚可能已经比我所知道的更加动摇了我的神经。

“Let me sit down, ” he gasped at length.
“让我坐下，”他终于喘息着说。

I filled a glass with St. Galmier, and gave it to him to drink. —
我往圣加尔米尔水杯里倒了满满一杯，递给他喝。 —

I held it to his mouth as though he were a child. —
我把杯子递到他嘴边，就像他是个孩子一样。 —

He gulped down a mouthful, and some of it was spilt on his shirt-front.
他狼吞虎咽着一口，有些洒在了他的衬衫前面。

“Who’s killed herself?”
“谁自杀了？”

I do not know why I asked, for I knew whom he meant. He made an effort to collect himself.
我不知道为什么要问，因为我知道他指的是谁。他努力让自己镇定下来。

“They had a row last night. He went away. “
他们昨晚吵架了。他离开了。

“Is she dead?”
她死了吗？

“No; they’ve taken her to the hospital. “
没有，他们把她送到了医院。

“Then what are you talking about?” I cried impatiently. “Why did you say she’d killed herself?”
那么你在说什么？我不耐烦地大声说道：“为什么你说她自杀了？”

“Don’t be cross with me. I can’t tell you anything if you talk to me like that. “
别生我的气。如果你那样和我说话，我什么都说不出来。

I clenched my hands, seeking to control my irritation. I attempted a smile.
我握紧双手，控制着自己的急躁。我尝试着微笑。

“I’m sorry. Take your time. Don’t hurry, there’s a good fellow. “
对不起。慢慢来，别着急，好吗？

His round blue eyes behind the spectacles were ghastly with terror. —
他戴着眼镜后面那双蓝色的圆眼睛里满是恐惧。 —

The magnifying-glasses he wore distorted them.
他戴着的放大镜使他的眼睛变形了。

“When the concierge went up this morning to take a letter she could get no answer to her ring. —
今天早晨管理员上去送信时，她按门铃没有人回答。 —

She heard someone groaning. The door wasn’t locked, and she went in. Blanche was lying on the bed. —
她听见有人在呻吟。门没有锁，她进去了。布兰切躺在床上。 —

She’d been frightfully sick. There was a bottle of oxalic acid on the table. “
她呕吐得厉害。桌子上有一瓶草酸。

Stroeve hid his face in his hands and swayed backwards and forwards, groaning.
Stroeve用双手掩面，来回摇晃着，呻吟着。

“Was she conscious?”
她还清醒吗？

“Yes. Oh, if you knew how she’s suffering! I can’t bear it. I can’t bear it. “
是的。哦，如果你知道她在受苦！我受不了，我受不了。

His voice rose to a shriek.
他的声音变得尖锐起来。

“Damn it all, you haven’t got to bear it, ” I cried impatiently. “She’s got to bear it. “
“该死，你不必忍受，”我不耐烦地喊道。”她必须忍受。”

“How can you be so cruel?”
“你怎么能如此残忍？”

“What have you done?”
“你做了什么？”

“They sent for a doctor and for me, and they told the police. —
“他们叫医生和我来，还告诉了警察。 —

I’d given the concierge twenty francs, and told her to send for me if anything happened. “
我给了门房二十法郎，并告诉她如果发生什么事就叫我。

He paused a minute, and I saw that what he had to tell me was very hard to say.
他停顿了一分钟，我看到他要告诉我的话很难说。

“When I went she wouldn’t speak to me. She told them to send me away. —
“当我去的时候，她不愿意和我说话。她让他们把我赶走。 —

I swore that I forgave her everything, but she wouldn’t listen. —
我发誓我原谅她的一切，但她不听。她试图用头撞墙。医生告诉我不能和她待在一起。 —

She tried to beat her head against the wall. The doctor told me that I mustn’t remain with her. —
她一直说，`把他赶走！’我走了，等在工作室里。 —

She kept on saying, `Send him away!’ I went, and waited in the studio. —
当救护车来了，他们把她抬上担架时，他们让我进厨房，这样她就不会知道我在那里。” —

And when the ambulance came and they put her on a stretcher, they made me go in the kitchen so that she shouldn’t know I was there. “
当我穿好衣服——因为Stroeve希望我立刻和他一起去医院时——他告诉我他已经安排好他妻子有了个私人房间，这样至少可以免去病房里的肮脏混杂。

While I dressed – for Stroeve wished me to go at once with him to the hospital – he told me that he had arranged for his wife to have a private room, so that she might at least be spared the sordid promiscuity of a ward. —
在我们赶往医院的路上，他向我解释为什么需要我在场； —

On our way he explained to me why he desired my presence; —
如果她仍然拒绝见他，也许她会见我。 —

if she still refused to see him, perhaps she would see me. —
。’ —

He begged me to repeat to her that he loved her still; —
他恳求我重复告诉她，他仍然爱她； —

he would reproach her for nothing, but desired only to help her; —
他不愿指责她任何事，只想帮助她； —

he made no claim on her, and on her recovery would not seek to induce her to return to him; —
他不会对她有任何主张，在她康复后也不会劝说她回到他身边； —

she would be perfectly free.
她将完全自由。

But when we arrived at the hospital, a gaunt, cheerless building, the mere sight of which was enough to make one’s heart sick, and after being directed from this official to that, up endless stairs and through long, bare corridors, found the doctor in charge of the case, we were told that the patient was too ill to see anyone that day. —
但当我们到达医院时，一个荒凉、令人沮丧的建筑，一眼就足以让人心痛，经过这个官员指点那个官员，穿过长长的走廊，找到负责这个病例的医生时，我们被告知病人当天无法见任何人。 —

The doctor was a little bearded man in white, with an offhand manner. —
医生是一个留着小胡子的穿白大褂的男人，态度漫不经心。 —

He evidently looked upon a case as a case, and anxious relatives as a nuisance which must be treated with firmness. —
他显然将病例看作只是一个普通的病例，将焦急的亲属视为必须坚决对待的麻烦。 —

Moreover, to him the affair was commonplace; —
而且，对于他来说，这件事很普通； —

it was just an hysterical woman who had quarrelled with her lover and taken poison; —
这只是一个因为和恋人吵架而服毒的歇斯底里的女人； —

it was constantly happening. At first he thought that Dirk was the cause of the disaster, and he was needlessly brusque with him. —
这种情况时常发生。起初他认为迪克是灾难的原因，对他并不需要如此粗暴。 —

When I explained that he was the husband, anxious to forgive, the doctor looked at him suddenly, with curious, searching eyes. —
当我解释说他是那位急于宽恕的丈夫时，医生突然用奇怪而探究的眼神看着他。 —

I seemed to see in them a hint of mockery; —
我似乎从他眼中看到一丝嘲讽； —

it was true that Stroeve had the head of the husband who is deceived. —
因为确实斯特罗夫有一个被欺骗的丈夫的头脑。 —

The doctor faintly shrugged his shoulders.
医生微弱地耸耸肩。

“There is no immediate danger, ” he said, in answer to our questioning. —
“目前没有危险，”他回答我们的问题。 —

“One doesn’t know how much she took. It may be that she will get off with a fright. —
“她都不知道自己吃了多少。也许她只是想吓唬一下。 —

Women are constantly trying to commit suicide for love, but generally they take care not to succeed. —
女人们总是试图因为爱情而自杀，但通常她们都不想成功。 —

It’s generally a gesture to arouse pity or terror in their lover. “
通常这只是一种引起恋人怜悯或恐惧的姿态。

There was in his tone a frigid contempt. It was obvious that to him Blanche Stroeve was only a unit to be added to the statistical list of attempted suicides in the city of Paris during the current year. —
他的语气中带着一种冷漠的蔑视。很明显，在他看来，布兰奇·斯特罗夫只是巴黎今年尝试自杀的统计数字中的一个。 —

He was busy, and could waste no more time on us. —
他很忙，没有时间再和我们浪费。 —

He told us that if we came at a certain hour next day, should Blanche be better, it might be possible for her husband to see her.
他告诉我们，如果我们第二天在某个特定时间过来，如果布兰奇好转了，她的丈夫也许可以看她。”