雙語·《刀鋒》 第二章 一

CHAPTER TWO 1
第二章 一

I did not see Elliott till he came to London towards the end of June in the following year. I asked him whether Larry had after all gone to Paris.He had.I was faintly amused at Elliott's exasperation with him.
一直到第二年的六月末，艾略特來到倫敦，我才和他又見了面。我問他拉里到巴黎去了沒有，他說去了。他對拉里窩了一肚子的火，這叫我聽了暗自發(fā)笑。

“I had a kind of sneaking sympathy for the boy. I couldn't blame him for wanting to spend a couple of years in Paris and I was prepared to launch him.I told him to let me know the moment he arrived, but it was only when Louisa wrote and told me he was there that I knew he'd come.I wrote to him care of the American Express, which was the address she gave me, and asked him to come and dine to meet some of the people I thought he ought to know；I thought I'd try him out first with the Franco-American set, Emily de Montadour and Gracie de Chateau-Gaillard and so on, and d’you know what he answered?He said he was sorry he couldn’t come, but he hadn’t brought any evening clothes with him，”
“我對這孩子素有惻隱之心，他想來巴黎待上兩年，我毫不怪他，而且還準(zhǔn)備幫助他一把。我告訴他，一到巴黎就通知我。后來路易莎寫信告訴我，說他在巴黎時(shí)，我才知道他已經(jīng)來了。我讓美國運(yùn)通公司轉(zhuǎn)給他一封信（地址是路易莎給我的），請他來吃飯，讓他認(rèn)識(shí)幾位我覺得有必要認(rèn)識(shí)的人。我一廂情愿地想讓他先結(jié)交一些法裔美國人，其中有愛米麗·德·蒙塔杜爾和格拉西·德·夏托加亞爾等。你猜他是怎么回復(fù)的？他說很抱歉不能來，因?yàn)樗麃矸▏鴷r(shí)沒帶晚禮服。”

Elliott looked me full in the face to see the stupefaction with which he expected this communication to fill me. He raised a supercilious eyebrow when he observed that I took it with calm.
艾略特眼睛盯著我，以為他的一席話會(huì)叫我的臉上出現(xiàn)驚訝的神情，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)我聲色不動(dòng)，于是便一抬眉毛，露出了不悅。

“He replied to my letter on a sheet of nasty paper with the heading of a café in the Latin Quarter and when I wrote back I asked him to let me know where he was staying.I felt I must do something about him for Isabel’s sake, and I thought perhaps he was shy-I mean I couldn’t believe that any young fellow in his senses could come to Paris without evening clothes, and in any case there are tolerable tailors there, so I asked him to lunch and said it would be quite a small party, and would you believe it, not only did he ignore my request to give me some other address than the American Express, but he said he never ate luncheon.That finished him as far as I was concerned.”
“他的回信寫在一張劣質(zhì)信紙上，上面印有拉丁區(qū)一家咖啡館的名字。我又寫了封信給他，要他把住址告訴我。我覺得，看在伊莎貝爾的分上，我也得幫他一把。我當(dāng)時(shí)以為他不愿來是怕見生人——我簡直無法相信一個(gè)頭腦正常的年輕人來巴黎怎么能不帶晚禮服；而且不管怎樣說，巴黎的裁縫鋪也還是不錯(cuò)的。這次我說明是請他吃午飯，客人也不多。可是，你恐怕不會(huì)相信，他無視我的請求，沒有把住址告訴我，仍托美國運(yùn)通公司轉(zhuǎn)來回信；這還不夠，他竟然說自己從不吃午飯。這一下，叫我拿他一點(diǎn)辦法都沒有了?！?/p>

“I wonder what he's been doing with himself.”
“不知道他現(xiàn)在在干些什么?！?/p>

“I don't know, and to tell you the truth I don't care. I'm afraid he's a thoroughly undesirable young man and I think it would be a great mistake for Isabel to marry him.After all, if he led a normal sort of life I'd have run across him at the Ritz bar or at Fouquet’s or somewhere.”
“鬼才知道。實(shí)話說，他干什么我才不管呢?？峙逻@個(gè)小青年是個(gè)極不成器的人。伊莎貝爾嫁給他，肯定是個(gè)大錯(cuò)誤。如果他是個(gè)正兒八經(jīng)的人，就應(yīng)該出入于里茨酒吧間或者富凱飯店等場所，而非拉丁區(qū)的咖啡館。”

I go sometimes to these fashionable places myself, but I go to others also, and it happened that I spent several days in Paris early in the autumn of that year on my way to Marseilles, where I was proposing to take one of the Messagerie ships for Singapore. I dined one evening with friends in Montparnasse and after dinner we went to the D?me to drink a glass of beer.Presently my wandering eye caught sight of Larry sitting by himself at a little marble-topped table on the crowded terrace.He was looking idly at the people who strolled up and down enjoying the coolness of the night after a sultry day.I left my party and went up to him.His face lit up when he saw me and he gave me an engaging smile.He asked me to sit down, but I said I couldn’t as I was with a party.
這些時(shí)尚的高級(jí)場所，有時(shí)候我自己也出入，但不時(shí)尚的地方我也去。那年的初秋時(shí)分，我到馬賽去，準(zhǔn)備乘法郵公司的船前往新加坡，途中路過巴黎時(shí)在那兒住了幾天。一天傍晚，我和幾個(gè)朋友在蒙巴納斯街區(qū)吃過晚飯，一同去多姆咖啡店喝杯啤酒。我四周瞧瞧，一眼看見拉里在人滿為患的露臺(tái)上，獨(dú)自坐在一張大理石面的小桌旁。他悠閑地望著街上來往的行人——悶熱的白天剛過，人們在享受晚間的涼爽。我丟下同伴朝著他走了過去。他看見我，臉上頓時(shí)放出亮光，拋給我一個(gè)迷人的微笑。他請我坐下，可我說是跟朋友們一起來的，不便多待。

“I just wanted to say how d'you do to you，”I said.
“我來只是想向你問聲好?！蔽艺f道。

“Are you staying here?”he asked.
“你住在巴黎嗎？”他問。

“Only for a very few days.”
“只住幾天?！?/p>

“Will you lunch with me tomorrow?”
“明天跟我一起吃午飯好嗎？”

“I thought you never lunched.”
“我還以為你從不吃午飯呢？”

He chuckled.
他哧哧地笑了。

“You've seen Elliott. I don't generally.I can't afford the time, I just have a glass of milk and a brioche, but I'd like you to lunch with me.”
“看來你見過艾略特了。我一般是不吃的，沒有時(shí)間吃，只喝杯牛奶、吃塊蛋糕對付一下。不過，我倒是想跟你一起吃頓午飯?！?/p>

“All right.”
“那好吧?！?/p>

We arranged to meet at the D?me next day to have an apéritif and eat at some place on the boulevard.I rejoined my friends.We sat on talking.When next I looked for Larry he had gone.
我們約好次日來多姆咖啡店見，先喝杯開胃酒，然后去林蔭大道找個(gè)館子吃飯。商定之后，我便回到那幾個(gè)朋友身旁談天說地。待我轉(zhuǎn)過頭再去看拉里，發(fā)現(xiàn)他已經(jīng)走了。