This is what I read:
以下是我所讀到的:
On January 21st 1817 Claire Clairmont, nineteen years old, had a baby daughter in a town called Bath in England. The baby's father was the poet Lord Byron, but he was not Claire's husband. They were lovers for a while but then Byron went to Italy. He did not love Claire and he did not want to be with her. So Claire lived with Byron's friends — the poet Shelley, his wife Mary, and their two children. Claire and Mary were half-sisters; they had the same father but different mothers. Shelley liked children very much and he felt a strong love for Claire's baby. He hoped that his friend Byron would help Claire and her daughter. From Bath he wrote to him:
1817年1月21日,19歲的克萊爾·克萊爾蒙特在英格蘭巴斯市生下一個女孩。詩人拜倫勛爵是孩子的父親,但他們并沒有結婚,只是做過一段時間的情人,后來拜倫去了意大利。他不愛克萊爾,也不想和她生活在一起。克萊爾只好找到拜倫的朋友,詩人雪萊,與雪萊夫婦和他們的兩個孩子住在一起。雪萊的夫人瑪麗與克萊爾是同父異母的姐妹。雪萊喜歡孩子,對克萊爾的女兒尤其喜愛,他希望拜倫能夠幫助克萊爾母女,于是就從巴斯給拜倫寫信:
Claire has a very beautiful girl. Her hair is fair and her eyes are blue... Claire calls her Alba.
克萊爾生了個女兒,金發(fā)碧眼,非常漂亮,……克萊爾給她起名叫阿爾巴。
Byron wanted to see his baby daughter and he asked Shelley to bring her to Italy. Shelley wanted to live in Italy too, so he and his family, and Claire and her baby, all travelled there. The baby was a year old and now she was called Allegra because Byron liked the name.
拜倫想見自己的女兒,就請雪萊帶她來意大利。雪萊也想到意大利生活,便帶著家人和克萊爾母女一同前往。這時小女孩1歲,并改名為阿利格拉,因為拜倫喜歡這個名字。
In Italy Claire decided to give Allegra to Byron because she thought that the daughter of an English lord would have a good future. Shelley said to her: 'No, don't do it, Claire, or you will never see your daughter again.' But Byron was rich and Claire thought that Allegra would have a better life with him. Of course, she did not want to give Allegra to Byron, and when she sent the child to him in Venice, she was very unhappy. In a letter to a friend she wrote:
在意大利,克萊爾決定將阿利格拉交給拜倫撫養(yǎng),因為她覺得作為英國勛爵的女兒會有更好的前途。雪萊對她說:“不要那么做,克萊爾,不然你就再也見不到自己的女兒了。”但是拜倫很富有,克萊爾覺得阿利格拉和他在一起會生活得更好。當然,克萊爾并非真的想這樣做,在威尼斯把孩子交給拜倫時,她非常傷心。在給朋友的信中,她寫道:
In the spring of 1818 I sent my little darling to her father. She was the only thing that I loved in the world.
1818年春天,我把寶貝女兒交給了她的父親。她是這世上我唯一愛的人。
It was a terrible mistake. Allegra lived with her father in a big house called the Palazzo Mocenigo. It was full of strange animals, and even stranger people. After a while Lord Byron understood that it was not a good home for a child. So he gave Allegra to an English family in Venice, and in August Claire saw her there. Then Byron said that Claire and her baby and Shelley's family could stay at his villa near a town called Este. For two months Claire was happy there with Allegra. But Byron also said that she must bring Allegra to him in Venice in the autumn. So in October Allegra went back to her father, and Claire never saw her again.
克萊爾做了個極其錯誤的決定。阿利格拉同父親住在一座叫莫契尼格宮的豪宅里。那兒總是聚集著稀奇古怪的人和動物。過了一段時間,拜倫勛爵發(fā)現(xiàn)這個居所并不適合孩子,于是將阿利格拉送到威尼斯的一戶英國人家里。8月份,克萊爾在那里見到了女兒。后來拜倫允許克萊爾母女和雪萊一家住在他在埃斯特鎮(zhèn)附近的別墅里。在那兒,克萊爾和女兒阿利格拉度過了愉快的兩個月。但是拜倫說克萊爾必須在秋天把女兒帶回威尼斯,交給他。所以,到了10月份,阿利格拉又回到了父親身邊,而克萊爾從此再也沒有見過她。
Allegra stayed in Venice for eight months with different families. Then Byron took her to the city of Bologna. He wrote to Shelley:
在威尼斯,阿利格拉生活了8個月,先后被寄養(yǎng)在好幾個家庭里。而后,拜倫帶她去了波洛尼亞。在給雪萊的信中,他寫道:
She is like me. She has white skin. Her voice is soft and she can't say the letter 'r'.
她很像我,皮膚白皙,聲音輕柔,但是不會發(fā)字母“r”的音。
For many months he sent no news to Claire about her daughter. Then she heard that Allegra was with her father in a town called Ravenna. She wrote to him, 'I want to see my daughter — please!' But he said no. Claire wrote a lot of letters like this to Byron, but he did not answer them. She was very unhappy.
接下來的數(shù)月里,拜倫沒有告訴克萊爾任何有關女兒的消息。后來,克萊爾聽說阿利格拉和父親在一個叫拉文納的城里,于是寫信求拜倫:“請讓我見見女兒!”但是被拒絕了??巳R爾給拜倫寫了很多類似的信,但他都沒有回復。這讓她很傷心。
When Allegra was four years old, Byron sent her to a convent school near Ravenna. The nuns were kind and loved her very much. But the convent was strange to her. The walls were white and cold, the rooms were empty, and sometimes she was cold because there was no fire. Every day she did the same things at the same time. This quiet life was very different from her life with Byron.
在阿利格拉4歲時,拜倫把她送到了拉文納附近的一所修道院學校。修女們很和善,也很喜歡阿利格拉,但修道院對她來說是個陌生的地方。墻壁是白色的,冷漠而生硬,房間里空空蕩蕩,沒有壁爐,有時她會覺得冷。每天,阿利格拉都要在同樣的時間做同樣的事,這種安靜的生活和她跟拜倫在一起時截然不同。
Claire was now very angry. She did not like convent schools, and she was sure that Allegra was always cold and lonely. She wrote an angry letter to Byron: 'My child must be with one of her parents,' she said. He did not answer the letter. He thought that the convent was good for Allegra, and he told the nuns that Claire must never visit the child. They must lock the doors to stop her. But he said that Shelley could see Allegra because he was his friend. So one day Shelley went to visit Allegra at the convent. He wrote in his diary:
克萊爾對此非常不滿。她不喜歡修道院學校,而且深信阿利格拉在那里會感到孤獨、寒冷。她氣憤地給拜倫寫信,說:“我的女兒必須跟我們之中的一人生活在一起。”拜倫沒有回信。他認為修道院學校對阿利格拉有好處,還告訴那兒的修女絕對不能允許克萊爾去看望女兒,要將其拒之門外。但是他說雪萊可以見阿利格拉,因為他們是朋友。于是,有一天雪萊去修道院看望了阿利格拉。他在日記中寫道:
She is tall and pale. But her eyes are very blue, and she has a lot of blond hair. She is beautiful and very different from the other children. I ran and played with her in the garden. She is very light and fast. I gave her some sweets and I asked her, 'What shall I say to your Mamà?' She answered in Italian, 'Tell her to send me a kiss and a beautiful dress.' Then I asked her, 'What shall I say to your Papà?' And she answered, 'Tell him to visit me and to bring Mamà with him.'
她個子很高,面色蒼白,長著藍色的眼睛和一頭濃密的金發(fā),是個漂亮而又與眾不同的孩子。我陪她在花園里追逐玩耍,她跑起來輕快敏捷。我送給她一些糖果,又問她:“你想要我跟你媽媽說什么?”她用意大利語回答:“告訴她送給我一個吻和一條漂亮的裙子。”然后我問:“你想跟爸爸說什么?”她說:“讓他帶著媽媽來看我。”
But Papà did not visit her and Mamà did not come.
但是爸爸和媽媽都沒有去看她。
On June 6th 1821 Claire dreamt that Allegra was ill. She thought that her daughter was going to die and she would never see her again. 'Take her away from the convent,' she wrote to Byron. But he said no. Of course, Claire wanted to go to the convent and take Allegra away, but this was very difficult. Byron was a rich and famous lord and the people in the convent did what he wanted. They locked the doors.
1821年6月6日,克萊爾夢到阿利格拉病了。她猜想女兒快死了,自己將再也見不到她了。“帶孩子離開修道院,”她寫信央求拜倫,但被拒絕了??巳R爾當然希望自己能去修道院把女兒接走,可是這么做很困難。拜倫是位富有且聲名顯赫的勛爵,修道院的人順從他的意愿,鎖住大門。
And then Allegra got a fever. The doctor came and gave her some medicine. For a while she was better and the nuns hoped that she would live. But she died on April 21st 1822. She was five years and three months old.
在那之后阿利格拉發(fā)燒了。醫(yī)生來看過,并開了藥。曾有一段時間她的病情有所好轉,修女們以為她會活下來。但是1822年4月21日,她去世了,那一天剛好5歲零3個月。
Shelley was afraid to tell Claire that Allegra was dead. He thought that she would try to kill herself. But one evening Shelley, Mary, and some friends were talking about Allegra when Claire came into the room. At once everybody stopped talking, and she knew.
雪萊不敢把阿利格拉去世的消息告訴克萊爾,擔心她會輕生。但是,一天晚上,正在雪萊、瑪麗和幾個朋友談論阿利格拉時,克萊爾走進了房間,大家突然止住了談話,克萊爾意識到了。
Allegra's dead, isn't she?' she said.
“阿利格拉不在了,是不是?”她問。
So Shelley told her the sad story. She was very unhappy and wanted to die. Shelley was also unhappy. He loved Allegra like a daughter and he could not forget her. Two weeks after Allegra died, he was with one of his friends on the balcony of a house by the sea. Suddenly he saw a child with long, fair hair and very blue eyes. She was coming out of the sea and she was smiling at him. In the moonlight he saw that she wanted to come to him.
雪萊只得把這個不幸的消息告訴她??巳R爾非常傷心,甚至想要結束生命。雪萊也很難過,他像父親一樣疼愛阿利格拉,無法忘記她。阿利格拉去世兩周后的一天,雪萊和一個朋友在一處海邊住所的陽臺上,突然他看見個金發(fā)碧眼的女孩從大海里走出來,向他微笑著。借著月光雪萊看見她正要朝自己走來。
Look, there it is!' he said to his friend. 'Can you see her? Look — there!'
“快看那邊!”他對朋友說,“看見她了嗎?就在那兒!”
But his friend saw nothing. It was Allegra's ghost. And fifty years after Allegra died, Claire wrote to a friend:
但是他的朋友什么都沒看見。那是阿利格拉的幽靈。在阿利格拉死去50年以后,克萊爾在寄給朋友的信中寫道:
I can never forget my darling child. But did she really die? Byron and Shelley said that she died, but I have heard that she is alive. Some people say that they have seen her. I am sure that she is alive.
我永遠都無法忘記我親愛的女兒??墒撬娴乃懒藛??拜倫和雪萊說她死了,但我聽說她還活著。有人說見過她。我相信她還活著。
Claire died in 1879 when she was eighty-one years old. Her tombstone is in the cemetery of Santa Maria dell'Antella at Bagno a Ripoli.
1879年,克萊爾在81歲時去世了,墓碑安放在巴尼奧阿里波的圣瑪麗亞德爾安蒂拉墓地。