1. Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to bring to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death. It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed
知道马拉德太太患有心脏病，向她传达她丈夫的死讯就要格外小心，而且要尽可能采取温和的方式。她妹妹约瑟芬吞吞吐吐地把这个消息告诉了她。当时，她丈夫的朋友理查兹也在她身边。正是他从报社得到了这次灾难性的铁路事故的消息——布伦特里·马拉德的名字在殉难者名单的第一个。
2. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself, she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her. There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.
她突然倒在她妹妹的怀里，放声大哭。当这场悲伤的风暴过后，她独自回到了自己的房间，不让任何人跟随她。她瘫坐在扶手椅上，身体的疲劳已占据了她整个身体，似乎就要侵入她的灵魂——她已不堪重负。
3. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.
她可以看到房前的露天广场上的树梢缀满新了芽，在微微抖动着。空气中弥漫着绵绵细雨。楼下的街道上，一个小贩正叫卖着他的货物。远处不知何人的歌声，隐隐约约地传入她的耳朵。数不清的麻雀在屋檐下叽叽喳喳地叫着。
4. She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams. She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines usually bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.
她坐在椅子上，头猛地向后靠向椅垫。她坐在那里，几乎一动不动，只是呜咽声从她的喉咙经过时，让她的身体发出抖动。就如同一个在哭泣中入睡的孩子，在睡梦中仍会发出阵阵啜泣。她很年轻，面容白皙、冷静，面部轮廓显得镇静甚至有那么一丝丝坚强。但现在的她，目光呆滞，凝视着远方蓝色天际的一隅。那并不是转眼间的沉思，更像是深思熟虑的短暂停歇。
5. There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the colour that filled the air. Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. A little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it, went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.
她突然想到了什么，这正是她在恐慌中所等待的。是什么呢？这个想法从遥远的天际悄悄溜出，与空气中充满的各种声响、气味和色彩一同来到她的身边，于是被她察觉到了。此时，她的内心已躁动不安。她开始意识到这个想法会占据她的全部身心，于是她开始用自己的意志力击退它——只不过，她的意志力与她白嫩纤细的双手一样弱不禁风。她两片嘴唇微微张开，一阵低语从唇缝中脱口而出。她一遍又一遍地低声说着：“自由了，自由了，终于自由了！”她目光中的茫然、空洞，以及随之而来的恐慌消失了。双眼释放出敏锐、愉悦的光芒。她的脉搏快速地跳动着，奔腾的血液令她身体的每一个部位都变得温暖和放松。
6. She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked without love upon her, fixed and grey and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.
她并没让自己的思绪停下来，去问一下自己是否已经被一种巨大的喜悦所掌控。她没有这么做，是因为她非常清楚那并不重要。她知道当她看到那双亲切、温柔的双手在棺木中交叉紧握，以及那张曾经无时无刻不流露出对她的爱慕，如今却苍白、僵硬、面无血色的面孔时，她会再次哭泣。但是，她已经看到了在那痛苦时刻过后，等待她的是一段完全属于她自己的漫长的未来岁月。于是，她张开了一双臂膀，准备迎接这新生活的到来。
7. There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.
即将到来的岁月里，她不必再为别人活着；她将只为自己而活。不再有强大的意志让她屈服并盲目地坚持这样的理念——无论男人还是女人都有权利将自己的私人意愿强加给自己的另一半。这短暂的顿悟令她发现，无论善意或残酷的意图都让她觉得这种想法简直与犯罪没什么两样。
8. And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! "Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.
然而，她的确爱过他——虽然只是偶尔。大多数时候，她并不爱他。这并不重要了！爱情，这个谜一般的东西，在这种重新找回自我的感觉面前，又有什么意义呢？——她突然意识到这种找回自我的感觉才是她内心中最强烈的冲动。“自由！身体和灵魂的自由！”她一直在低语着。
9. Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the key hole, asking her to let her in. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door." "Go away. I am not making myself ill", she said. No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long. She finally arose at length and opened the door for her sister. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself like a goddess of Victory. Together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.
约瑟芬跪在关着的门外，嘴唇贴着钥匙孔，央求着让她进去。“露易丝，打开门吧！我求求你了，打开门吧。这样下去你会病倒的！露易丝，你在做什么？看在上帝的份上，打开门吧！”“走开，我一点儿事没有，”她说。她的确没事。她现在正看着窗外，畅想着自己未来的美好生活，甚至有些飘飘欲仙的感觉——春天、夏天，以后的不管什么样的日子里，她都会为自己而活……她快速地做了个祈祷，希望自己的生命能够更长一些。就在昨天，她想到自己还得活很多年时，她还会感到不寒而栗。她终于从扶手椅上起来，为她妹妹打开了房门。她的眼中释放出狂热且胜利的光芒。此时此刻，她的举手投足就像一位胜利女神。姐妹俩一起走下楼梯。理查兹正在楼下等着她们。
10. Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills.
正在这时，有人用钥匙打开了前门。走进的人正是布伦特里·马拉德。他看上去有点儿风尘仆仆，手里拿着他的沉甸甸的手提包和雨伞。事故发生时，他距离事故现场很远，甚至不知道有这么一场事故。他站在那里，惊讶地看着约瑟芬嚎啕大哭。理查兹快速地遮住了他的视线，不让他看到她妻子的惨相。医生赶来后，告诉他们，她死于高兴过度导致的心脏病。 |