We arrived at the house in which I lived. —
我们到了我曾经住的房子。 —

I would not ask him to come in with me, but walked up the stairs without a word. —
我没有请他跟我一起进去，只是默默地走上楼梯。 —

He followed me, and entered the apartment on my heels. —
他跟在我后面进了公寓。 —

He had not been in it before, but he never gave a glance at the room I had been at pains to make pleasing to the eye. —
他以前从未来过这里，但他连我费心布置得让人赏心悦目的房间都没有看一眼。 —

There was a tin of tobacco on the table, and, taking out his pipe, he filled it. —
桌子上有一罐烟草，他拿出烟斗，开始装烟草。 —

He sat down on the only chair that had no arms and tilted himself on the back legs.
他坐在唯一一把没有扶手的椅子上，往后仰。

“If you’re going to make yourself at home, why don’t you sit in an arm-chair?” I asked irritably.
“如果你要安逸自在，为什么不坐在扶手椅上呢？”我不耐烦地问道。

“Why are you concerned about my comfort?”
“你为什么关心我的舒适？”

“I’m not, ” I retorted, “but only about my own. —
“我没有，”我反驳说，“只是关心我的舒适。 —

It makes me uncomfortable to see someone sit on an uncomfortable chair. “
看到别人坐在不舒适的椅子上会让我不舒服。”

He chuckled, but did not move. He smoked on in silence, taking no further notice of me, and apparently was absorbed in thought. —
他笑了笑，但没有动，继续沉默地吸烟，似乎陷入了沉思。 —

I wondered why he had come.
我想知道他为什么来了。

Until long habit has blunted the sensibility, there is something disconcerting to the writer in the instinct which causes him to take an interest in the singularities of human nature so absorbing that his moral sense is powerless against it. —
直到长久养成的习惯淡化了敏感性，作家对使他被人类天性的古怪吸引得心神专注到道德感无能为力的本能感到困惑。 —

He recognises in himself an artistic satisfaction in the contemplation of evil which a little startles him; —
他意识到自己对于邪恶的思考中存在一种艺术上的满足，让他有点吃惊； —

but sincerity forces him to confess that the disapproval he feels for certain actions is not nearly so strong as his curiosity in their reasons. —
但真诚迫使他承认，他对某些行为的不赞同远不及他对其原因的好奇。 —

The character of a scoundrel, logical and complete, has a fascination for his creator which is an outrage to law and order. —
一个无赖的性格，理性而完整，对他的创造者产生着一种令法律和秩序愤慨的迷恋。 —

I expect that Shakespeare devised Iago with a gusto which he never knew when, weaving moonbeams with his fancy, he imagined Desdemona. —
我期待莎士比亚创作出了一个以前从未有过的热情来构想强调斯的角色，而他构思出黛西蒙娜时却并未抱有。 —

It may be that in his rogues the writer gratifies instincts deep-rooted in him, which the manners and customs of a civilised world have forced back to the mysterious recesses of the subconscious. —
也许在他的恶棍角色中，写作者满足了根深蒂固的本能，这些本能被文明世界的礼仪和习俗逼迫到潜意识的神秘深处。 —

In giving to the character of his invention flesh and bones he is giving life to that part of himself which finds no other means of expression. —
通过赋予自己创造的角色血肉之躯，他在给予生命那部分没有其他表达方式的自己。 —

His satisfaction is a sense of liberation.
他的满足感源自一种解放感。

The writer is more concerned to know than to judge.
写作者更感兴趣了解而非评判。

There was in my soul a perfectly genuine horror of Strickland, and side by side with it a cold curiosity to discover his motives. —
我心里对斯特里克兰有着非常真实的恐惧，同时也有一种冷漠的好奇心想要发现他的动机。 —

I was puzzled by him, and I was eager to see how he regarded the tragedy he had caused in the lives of people who had used him with so much kindness. —
我对他感到困惑，渴望看看他是如何看待自己在那些对他如此好的人生活中引发的悲剧。 —

I applied the scalpel boldly.
我大胆地动用解剖刀。

“Stroeve told me that picture you painted of his wife was the best thing you’ve ever done. “
“斯特罗夫告诉我，你画的他妻子的那幅画是你做过的最好的作品。”

Strickland took his pipe out of his mouth, and a smile lit up his eyes.
斯特里克兰拿下嘴里的烟斗，眼睛里闪着微笑。

“It was great fun to do. “
“画那幅真是太有趣了。”

“Why did you give it him?”
“你为什么给了他？”

“I’d finished it. It wasn’t any good to me. “
“我已经完成了。对我没有任何用处。”

“Do you know that Stroeve nearly destroyed it?”
“你知道斯特罗夫差点毁掉那幅画吗？”

“It wasn’t altogether satisfactory. “
“这并不是完全令人满意的。”

He was quiet for a moment or two, then he took his pipe out of his mouth again, and chuckled.
他静静地沉默了片刻，然后又把烟斗从口中拿了出来，笑了起来。

“Do you know that the little man came to see me?”
“你知道那位小人来看过我了吗？”

“Weren’t you rather touched by what he had to say?”
“你难道不觉得他说的话让你有些动容吗？”

“No; I thought it damned silly and sentimental. “
“不，我觉得那太蠢了，太感伤了。”

“I suppose it escaped your memory that you’d ruined his life?” I remarked.
“你是否忘了你毁了他的一生？”我说道。

He rubbed his bearded chin reflectively.
他反复地揉着胡须下巴。

“He’s a very bad painter. “
“他是个很糟糕的画家。”

“But a very good man. “
“但是个很好的人。”

“And an excellent cook, ” Strickland added derisively.
“还是个出色的厨师，” 斯特里克兰嘲讽地补充道。

His callousness was inhuman, and in my indignation I was not inclined to mince my words.
他的冷酷是非人类的，面对我的愤怒，我不愿意掩饰我的措辞。

“As a mere matter of curiosity I wish you’d tell me, have you felt the smallest twinge of remorse for Blanche Stroeve’s death?”
“纯粹出于好奇，我想问一下，你是否对布兰奇·斯特罗夫的死感到丝毫的悔意？”

I watched his face for some change of expression, but it remained impassive.
我观察着他的脸，希望看到他表情的变化，但他依然一脸冷漠。

“Why should I?” he asked.
“我为什么要感到懊悔？”他问道。

“Let me put the facts before you. You were dying, and Dirk Stroeve took you into his own house. —
“让我向你陈述事实。你奄奄一息，而德克·斯特罗夫却收留了你在自己的家里。” —

He nursed you like a mother. He sacrificed his time and his comfort and his money for you. —
他像母亲一样抚养了你。为了你，他牺牲了自己的时间、舒适和金钱。 —

He snatched you from the jaws of death. “
他从死神的口中将你夺回。

Strickland shrugged his shoulders.
史特里克兰耸了耸肩。

“The absurd little man enjoys doing things for other people. That’s his life. “
“这个荒谬的小人喜欢为别人做事。这就是他的生活。”

“Granting that you owed him no gratitude, were you obliged to go out of your way to take his wife from him? —
“即使你对他没有感激之情，你有必要费力去夺走他的妻子吗？ —

Until you came on the scene they were happy. —
在你出现之前，他们是幸福的。 —

Why couldn’t you leave them alone?”
你为什么不能让他们过好自己的生活呢？”

“What makes you think they were happy?”
“你怎么知道他们是幸福的？”

“It was evident. “
“那是显而易见的。”

“You are a discerning fellow. Do you think she could ever have forgiven him for what he did for her?”
“你是个有眼光的家伙。你认为她会原谅他为她所做的事吗？”

“What do you mean by that?”
“你是什么意思？”

“Don’t you know why he married her?”
“你不知道他为什么和她结婚吗？”

I shook my head.
我摇了摇头。

“She was a governess in the family of some Roman prince, and the son of the house seduced her. —
“她原来是某位罗马王子家庭的女家庭教师，而家里的儿子却勾引了她。 —

She thought he was going to marry her. They turned her out into the street neck and crop. —
她以为他会娶她。结果他们把她一脚踢出去。” —

She was going to have a baby, and she tried to commit suicide. Stroeve found her and married her. “
她怀孕了，试图自杀。斯特罗夫发现了她，并与她结婚。

“It was just like him. I never knew anyone with so compassionate a heart. “
“他就是这样一个人。我从未见过有如此慈悲之心的人。”

I had often wondered why that ill-assorted pair had married, but just that explanation had never occurred to me. —
我经常想知道为什么这对不伦不类的夫妻结婚了，但我从未想到过这样的解释。 —

That was perhaps the cause of the peculiar quality of Dirk’s love for his wife. —
这或许是迪克对妻子的爱情特质的原因。 —

I had noticed in it something more than passion. —
我注意到其中有比激情更多的东西。 —

I remembered also how I had always fancied that her reserve concealed I knew not what; —
我还记得我总是觉得她的保留掩盖了我不知道什么的东西； —

but now I saw in it more than the desire to hide a shameful secret. —
但现在我在其中看到了更多不仅仅是想隐藏一个可耻秘密的欲望。 —

Her tranquillity was like the sullen calm that broods over an island which has been swept by a hurricane. —
她的宁静就像是飓风掠过的岛屿上悄然萦绕的寂静。 —

Her cheerfulness was the cheerfulness of despair. —
她的快乐是绝望的快乐。 —

Strickland interrupted my reflections with an observation the profound cynicism of which startled me.
斯特里克兰打断了我的思考，其优秀讽刺意味使我感到震惊。

“A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her, ” he said, “but she can never forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account. “
“一个女人可以原谅男人对她造成的伤害，” 他说，”但她永远无法原谅他为了她作出的牺牲。”

“It must be reassuring to you to know that you certainly run no risk of incurring the resentment of the women you come in contact with, ” I retorted.
“对你来说，知道自己绝对不会招致与你接触的女性的怨恨肯定令你放心”，我反驳。

A slight smile broke on his lips.
他的嘴角露出微笑。

“You are always prepared to sacrifice your principles for a repartee, ” he answered.
“你总是为了一句机智的回应而牺牲自己的原则,” 他回答道。

“What happened to the child?”
“那个孩子怎么样了？”

“Oh, it was still-born, three or four months after they were married. “
“哦，孩子还没出生就夭折了，大约是结婚三四个月后。”

Then I came to the question which had seemed to me most puzzling.
然后我想起了一个曾经令我感到困惑的问题。

“Will you tell me why you bothered about Blanche Stroeve at all?”
“你能告诉我你究竟为什么会对布兰奇·斯特洛夫感兴趣吗？”

He did not answer for so long that I nearly repeated it.
他沉默了很久，以至于我差点重复了这个问题。

“How do I know?” he said at last. “She couldn’t bear the sight of me. It amused me. “
“我怎么知道呢？”最后他说，“她竟然连看到我都受不了。这让我很有趣。”

“I see. “
“我明白了。”

He gave a sudden flash of anger.
他突然爆发出愤怒。

“Damn it all, I wanted her. “
“见鬼，我想要她。”

But he recovered his temper immediately, and looked at me with a smile.
但他马上恢复了平静，并带着微笑看着我。

“At first she was horrified. “
“一开始她感到恐惧。”

“Did you tell her?”
“你有告诉她吗？”

“There wasn’t any need. She knew. I never said a word. She was frightened. At last I took her. “
“完全没有必要。她自己明白。我从未说过一句话。她感到恐惧。最后我拥有了她。”

I do not know what there was in the way he told me this that extraordinarily suggested the violence of his desire. —
我不知道他讲述这件事的方式到底蕴含着什么，但极端暗示了他欲望的强烈。 —

It was disconcerting and rather horrible. —
这让人困惑而有些可怕。 —

His life was strangely divorced from material things, and it was as though his body at times wreaked a fearful revenge on his spirit. —
他的生活与物质世界极度脱节，有时候他的身体似乎对他的灵魂进行了可怕的复仇。 —

The satyr in him suddenly took possession, and he was powerless in the grip of an instinct which had all the strength of the primitive forces of nature. —
他身上的仙人控制了他，他无力抵抗这种本能的束缚，这种本能有着原始自然力量的全部强度。 —

It was an obsession so complete that there was no room in his soul for prudence or gratitude.
这是一种如此彻底的困扰，以至于他的灵魂里没有空间容纳审慎或感激之情。

“But why did you want to take her away with you?” I asked.
“但是你为什么想带她走？”我问道。

“I didn’t, ” he answered, frowning. “When she said she was coming I was nearly as surprised as Stroeve. —
“我没有，”他皱着眉回答道，“当她说她要来时，我几乎和斯特罗夫一样惊讶。” —

I told her that when I’d had enough of her she’d have to go, and she said she’d risk that. —
我告诉她，当我厌烦她的时候，她就得离开；她说她愿意冒这个风险。 —

” He paused a little. “She had a wonderful body, and I wanted to paint a nude. —
” 他停顿了一下。 “她身体很棒，我想画一幅裸体作品。 —

When I’d finished my picture I took no more interest in her. “
当我完成我的画作后，我对她不再感兴趣。”

“And she loved you with all her heart. “
“可她全心全意地爱着你。”

He sprang to his feet and walked up and down the small room.
他站起身，走来走去在这个小房间里。

“I don’t want love. I haven’t time for it. It’s weakness. I am a man, and sometimes I want a woman. —
“我不想谈恋爱。我没时间。那是软弱。我是一个男人，有时候我想要一个女人。 —

When I’ve satisfied my passion I’m ready for other things. —
当我满足了我的激情之后，我就准备好做其他事情。 —

I can’t overcome my desire, but I hate it; it imprisons my spirit; —
我无法克服我的欲望，但我厌恶它；它囚禁了我的精神； —

I look forward to the time when I shall be free from all desire and can give myself without hindrance to my work. —
我期待着没有欲望的时候，可以毫无障碍地投身于我的工作。 —

Because women can do nothing except love, they’ve given it a ridiculous importance. —
因为女人除了爱什么都不会，所以他们把爱看得太重要了。 —

They want to persuade us that it’s the whole of life. It’s an insignificant part. I know lust. —
他们想说服我们，爱是生活的全部。这只是微不足道的一部分。我懂得欲望。 —

That’s normal and healthy. Love is a disease. Women are the instruments of my pleasure; —
这是正常且健康的。爱情是一种疾病。女人是我快乐的工具； —

I have no patience with their claim to be helpmates, partners, companions. “
对于她们声称自己是帮手、伙伴、同伴，我一点儿耐心都没有。”

I had never heard Strickland speak so much at one time. He spoke with a passion of indignation. —
我从未听过斯特里克兰如此连贯地说话。他带着愤怒的激情说话。 —

But neither here nor elsewhere do I pretend to give his exact words; —
但无论是在这里还是其他地方，我都不假装给出他的确切用词； —

his vocabulary was small, and he had no gift for framing sentences, so that one had to piece his meaning together out of interjections, the expression of his face, gestures and hackneyed phrases.
他的词汇量很小，无法构建出连贯的句子，因此你必须通过感叹词、他的表情、手势和陈词滥调来拼凑出他的意思。

“You should have lived at a time when women were chattels and men the masters of slaves, ” I said.
“你应该生活在女人是财产、男人是奴隶主的年代，” 我说道。

“It just happens that I am a completely normal man. “
“恰巧我是一个完全正常的男人。”

I could not help laughing at this remark, made in all seriousness; —
我忍不住笑了，这是认真说的； —

but he went on, walking up and down the room like a caged beast, intent on expressing what he felt, but found such difficulty in putting coherently.
但他继续说着，像关在笼子里的野兽一样来回走动，努力表达他所感受到的东西，但却很难表达得连贯。

“When a woman loves you she’s not satisfied until she possesses your soul. —
“当一个女人爱你时，她会不满足，直到拥有你的灵魂。 —

Because she’s weak, she has a rage for domination, and nothing less will satisfy her. —
因为她软弱，她渴望统治，没有比这更能满足她的了。 —

She has a small mind, and she resents the abstract which she is unable to grasp. —
她的思想狭窄，她对她无法理解的抽象产生愤怒。 —

She is occupied with material things, and she is jealous of the ideal. —
她关心物质，她嫉妒理想。 —

The soul of man wanders through the uttermost regions of the universe, and she seeks to imprison it in the circle of her account-book. —
人的灵魂漫游于宇宙的最遥远地区，而她试图将其囚禁在她账簿的圈中。 —

Do you remember my wife? I saw Blanche little by little trying all her tricks. —
你还记得我的妻子吗？我看到布兰奇逐渐尝试她所有的把戏。 —

With infinite patience she prepared to snare me and bind me. —
她怀着无限的耐心准备诱捕我，束缚我。 —

She wanted to bring me down to her level; she cared nothing for me, she only wanted me to be hers. —
她想要把我拉到她的水平，她并不在乎我，她只想让我属于她。 —

She was willing to do everything in the world for me except the one thing I wanted: —
她愿意为我做世界上的一切事情，除了我想要的一件事： —

to leave me alone. “
离我远一点。”

I was silent for a while.
我沉默了一会儿。

“What did you expect her to do when you left her?”
“当你离开她时，你期待她会怎么做呢？”

“She could have gone back to Stroeve, ” he said irritably. “He was ready to take her. “
“她本可以回到Stroeve那里，”他愤怒地说。”他愿意接纳她。”

“You’re inhuman, ” I answered. “It’s as useless to talk to you about these things as to describe colours to a man who was born blind. “
“你太冷血了，”我回答道。”跟你谈论这些事情就像向一个生下来就是盲人的人描述颜色一样没有意义。”

He stopped in front of my chair, and stood looking down at me with an expression in which I read a contemptuous amazement.
他停在我椅子前，俯视着我，表情中我读出一种蔑视和惊讶。

“Do you really care a twopenny damn if Blanche Stroeve is alive or dead?”
“如果Blanche Stroeve活着还是死了，你真的就一点也不在乎吗？”

I thought over his question, for I wanted to answer it truthfully, at all events to my soul.
我思考着他的问题，因为我想诚实地回答，至少对我的灵魂。

“It may be a lack of sympathy in myself if it does not make any great difference to me that she is dead. —
“如果她死了，我并不是因为缺乏同情心才无所谓。 —

Life had a great deal to offer her. I think it’s terrible that she should have been deprived of it in that cruel way, and I am ashamed because I do not really care. “
生活对她来说还有很多可供选择。我觉得她以那种残酷的方式被剥夺了生命，这太可怕了，我为自己并不真正在乎而感到羞耻。”

“You have not the courage of your convictions. Life has no value. —
“你没有坚持自己的信念的勇气。生命没有价值。 —

Blanche Stroeve didn’t commit suicide because I left her, but because she was a foolish and unbalanced woman. —
Blanche Stroeve并不是因为我离开她才自杀，而是因为她是一个愚蠢而不平衡的女人。” —

But we’ve talked about her quite enough; —
但我们已经谈论她足够多了; —

she was an entirely unimportant person. Come, and I’ll show you my pictures. “
她只是一个毫无重要性的人。来，我带你看我的画。

He spoke as though I were a child that needed to be distracted. —
他说话的口气好像我是一个需要被转移注意力的孩子。 —

I was sore, but not with him so much as with myself. —
我很疼，但并不是因为他，而是因为我自己。 —

I thought of the happy life that pair had led in the cosy studio in Montmartre, Stroeve and his wife, their simplicity, kindness, and hospitality; —
我想起了那对在蒙马特舒适工作室里过着快乐生活的夫妇，斯特罗夫和他的妻子，他们的朴实、善良和好客； —

it seemed to me cruel that it should have been broken to pieces by a ruthless chance; —
我觉得那种幸福的生活却被无情的命运打碎了，真是残酷； —

but the cruellest thing of all was that in fact it made no great difference. —
但最残酷的是，实际上这一切并没有带来太大的影响。 —

The world went on, and no one was a penny the worse for all that wretchedness. —
世界依然继续，没有人因那些不幸而受到任何伤害。 —

I had an idea that Dirk, a man of greater emotional reactions than depth of feeling, would soon forget; —
我觉得迪克，一个情感反应大于感情深度的人，很快会忘记； —

and Blanche’s life, begun with who knows what bright hopes and what dreams, might just as well have never been lived. —
而布兰奇的生活，开始时可能有多少光明的希望和梦想，也许根本就没必要活过来。 —

It all seemed useless and inane.
这一切显得毫无意义和荒谬。

Strickland had found his hat, and stood looking at me.
史特里克兰找到了他的帽子，站在看着我。

“Are you coming?”
“你来吗？”

“Why do you seek my acquaintance?” I asked him. “You know that I hate and despise you. “
“你为什么要寻求我的交往？”我问他。”你知道我恨你，鄙视你。”

He chuckled good-humouredly.
他友好地笑了笑。

“Your only quarrel with me really is that I don’t care a twopenny damn what you think about me. “
“你对我的唯一抱怨就是我根本不在乎你对我的看法。”

I felt my cheeks grow red with sudden anger. —
我感到愤怒，脸颊突然变得通红。 —

It was impossible to make him understand that one might be outraged by his callous selfishness. —
让他明白自己会受到他冷酷自私的行为激怒是不可能的。 —

I longed to pierce his armour of complete indifference. —
我渴望突破他完全冷漠的外壳。 —

I knew also that in the end there was truth in what he said. —
我也知道，最终他说的话是有道理的。 —

Unconsciously, perhaps, we treasure the power we have over people by their regard for our opinion of them, and we hate those upon whom we have no such influence. —
或许是下意识地，我们珍视着通过对我们的看法对别人产生的影响力，而且我们憎恨那些我们无法影响的人。 —

I suppose it is the bitterest wound to human pride. —
我想这是对人类自尊心最深刻的伤害。 —

But I would not let him see that I was put out.
但我不想让他看出我有些不高兴。

“Is it possible for any man to disregard others entirely?” —
“有人可能会完全不考虑别人吗？” —

I said, though more to myself than to him. “You’re dependent on others for everything in existence. —
我对自己说。”你对存在的一切都依赖于别人。 —

It’s a preposterous attempt to try to live only for yourself and by yourself. —
试图只为自己活着、依靠自己是荒谬的尝试。 —

Sooner or later you’ll be ill and tired and old, and then you’ll crawl back into the herd. —
迟早你会受够、疲惫和老去，然后你会重新融入群体。 —

Won’t you be ashamed when you feel in your heart the desire for comfort and sympathy? —
当你内心渴望舒适和同情时，你会感到羞愧吗？ —

You’re trying an impossible thing. Sooner or later the human being in you will yearn for the common bonds of humanity. “
你在尝试一件不可能的事情。迟早，你的人性会渴望人类共同的纽带。”

“Come and look at my pictures. “
“来看看我的画作吧。”

“Have you ever thought of death?”
“你有没有想过死亡？”

“Why should I? It doesn’t matter. “
“为什么要想呢？无所谓。”

I stared at him. He stood before me, motionless, with a mocking smile in his eyes; —
我盯着他。他站在我面前，一动不动，眼中带着一丝嘲弄的微笑； —

but for all that, for a moment I had an inkling of a fiery, tortured spirit, aiming at something greater than could be conceived by anything that was bound up with the flesh. —
但尽管如此，我瞬间感觉到了一种火热、折磨的精神，它追求的远超过了任何与肉体相连的东西所能设想的。 —

I had a fleeting glimpse of a pursuit of the ineffable. —
我瞥见了一丝追求无法言喻之物的努力。 —

I looked at the man before me in his shabby clothes, with his great nose and shining eyes, his red beard and untidy hair; —
我看着他身穿破旧衣服，拥有着高大的鼻子和闪亮的眼睛，红色的胡须和凌乱的头发； —

and I had a strange sensation that it was only an envelope, and I was in the presence of a disembodied spirit.
我产生了一种奇怪的感觉，认为这只是一个外壳，我正面对着一个无形的灵魂。

“Let us go and look at your pictures, ” I said.
“让我们去看你的画吧，”我说。