雙語(yǔ)·《刀鋒》 第一章 九

CHAPTER ONE 9
第一章 九

That evening I went to dine at a great stone house on Lake Shore Drive which looked as though the architect had started to build a medieval castle and then, changing his mind in the middle, had decided to turn it into a Swiss chalet. It was a huge party and I was glad when I got into the vast and sumptuous drawing-room, all statues, palms, chandeliers, old masters, and overstuffed furniture, to see that there were at least a few people I knew.I was introduced by Henry Maturin to his thin, raddled, frail wife.I said how d'you do to Mrs.Bradley and Isabel.Isabel was looking very pretty in a red silk dress that suited her dark hair and rich hazel eyes.She appeared to be in high spirits and no one could have guessed that she had so recently gone through a harassing experience.She was talking gaily to the two or three young men, Gray among them, who surrounded her.She sat at dinner at another table and I could not see her, but afterwards, when we men, after lingering interminably over our coffee, liqueurs, and cigars, returned to the drawing-room, I had a chance to speak to her.I knew her too little to say anything directly about what Elliott had told me, but I had something to say that I thought she might be glad to hear.
那天晚上，我到湖濱大道上的一所偌大的石頭屋赴宴?？茨欠课?，好像建筑師當(dāng)初打算蓋一座中世紀(jì)城堡，后來(lái)中途改變主意，決定建成一幢瑞士風(fēng)格的山地農(nóng)舍式房子。宴會(huì)的規(guī)模很大。走進(jìn)寬敞、奢華的客廳時(shí)，滿眼都是雕像、棕櫚樹(shù)、枝形吊燈、古畫(huà)，以及散布各處的家具。令我高興的是，來(lái)賓中至少有幾位是熟人。亨利·馬圖林給我介紹了他的老婆——一個(gè)骨瘦如柴、弱不禁風(fēng)、臉上涂脂抹粉的女人。我向她問(wèn)了聲好，也向同在跟前的伊莎貝爾打了個(gè)招呼。伊莎貝爾穿一身紅綢衣裙，和她那濃栗色頭發(fā)、深褐色眼睛很相配，顯得光彩照人。她看上去興致很高，誰(shuí)也猜想不到她最近在情感上剛有過(guò)一段痛苦的經(jīng)歷。兩三個(gè)小伙子，其中包括格雷，眾星捧月般圍著她，而她滿臉喜色地與之談笑。吃飯時(shí)她和我不同桌，看不見(jiàn)她。飯后，我們男客消消停停地喝咖啡、呷酒、抽雪茄，過(guò)了許久才回到客廳里。在這兒，我有了跟她說(shuō)話的機(jī)會(huì)。按說(shuō)，我和她不熟，不便開(kāi)門(mén)見(jiàn)山，將艾略特給我說(shuō)的話直接端出來(lái)，可又覺(jué)得應(yīng)該說(shuō)些什么，也許她還樂(lè)得一聽(tīng)呢。

“I saw your young man the other day in the club，”I remarked casually.
“那天在俱樂(lè)部里我看見(jiàn)你的男友了?！蔽乙月唤?jīng)心的語(yǔ)氣說(shuō)道。

“Oh, did you?”
“哦，是嗎？”

She spoke as casually as I had, but I perceived that she was instantly alert. Her eyes grew watchful and I thought I read in them something like apprehension.
她說(shuō)話時(shí)也同樣漫不經(jīng)心，但我發(fā)現(xiàn)她豎起了耳朵，注意力立刻集中了起來(lái)，眼睛在觀察著我，里面似乎能看得到幾分憂慮。

“He was reading in the library. I was very much impressed by his power of concentration.He was reading when I went in soon after ten, he was still reading when I went back after lunch, and he was reading when I went in again on my way out to dinner.I don't believe he'd moved from his chair for the best part of ten hours.”
“他在閱覽室里看書(shū)，聚精會(huì)神的，那種專注的勁兒給我留下了十分深刻的印象。十點(diǎn)鐘剛過(guò)的時(shí)候我去閱覽室，他在看書(shū)；吃過(guò)午飯后我回到那兒，他還在看書(shū)；飯館里吃過(guò)晚飯后回家，我拐回去瞧了瞧，他仍在看書(shū)。我敢說(shuō)他在椅子上足足坐了有十個(gè)小時(shí)沒(méi)挪過(guò)地方。”

“What was he reading?”
“他看的是什么書(shū)？”

“William James's Principles of Psychology.”
“威廉·詹姆斯的《心理學(xué)原理》?！?/p>

She looked down so that I had no means of knowing how what I had said affected her, but I had a notion that she was at once puzzled and relieved. I was at that moment fetched by my host who wanted me to play bridge and by the time the game broke up Isabel and her mother had gone.
她聽(tīng)后垂下了眼皮，我無(wú)從得知自己的一席話在她的心里激起了什么樣的反應(yīng)，但我隱約感到她好像既困惑不解，又松了口氣。這時(shí)，主人跑來(lái)拉我去打橋牌，等到牌局散時(shí)，伊莎貝爾和她母親已經(jīng)走了。