Justine 淑女的眼泪 Chapter 1

O thou my friend! The prosperity of Crime is like unto the lightning, whose traitorous ¹ brilliancies embellish ² the atmosphere but for an instant, in order to hurl ³ into death's very depths the luckless one they have dazzled., ,Yes, Constance, it is to thee I address this work; at once the example and honor of thy sex, with a spirit of profoundest sensibility combining the most judicious ⁴ and the most enlightened of minds, thou art she to whom I confide ⁵ my book, which will acquaint thee with the sweetness of the tears Virtue ⁶ sore beset ⁷ doth shed and doth cause to flow. Detesting ⁸ the sophistries ⁹ of libertinage ¹⁰ and of irreligion, in word and deed combating them unwearingly, I fear not that those necessitated ¹¹ by the order of personages appearing in these Memoirs ¹² will put thee in any peril ¹³; the cynicism remarkable ¹⁴ in certain portraits (they were softened ¹⁵ as much as ever they could be) is no more apt to frighten thee; for it is only Vice ¹⁶ that trembles when Vice is found out, and cries scandal immediately it is attacked. To bigots Tartuffe was indebted for his ordeal ¹⁷; Justine's will be the achievement of libertines ¹⁹, and little do I dread ²⁰ them: they'll not betray my intentions, these thou shalt perceive; thy opinion is sufficient to make my whole glory and after having pleased thee I must either please universally or find consolation ²¹ in a general censure ²²., ,The scheme of this novel (yet, 'tis less a novel than one might suppose) is doubtless new; the victory gained by Virtue over Vice, the rewarding of good, the punishment of evil, such is the usual scheme in every other work of this species: ah! the lesson cannot be too often dinned ²³ in our ears!, , ,Have I succeeded, Constance? Will a tear in thy eye determine my triumph? After having read Justine, wilt ⁴¹ say: "Oh, how these renderings ⁴² of crime make me proud of my love for Virtue! How sublime ³⁸ does it appear through tears! How 'tis embellished ⁴³ by misfortunes !", ,Oh, Constance! may these words but escape thy lips, and my labors ⁴⁴ shall be crowned., ,Most of the time I keep such traitorous thoughts to myself. 这种叛逆思想我不大向别人暴露 。,I asked him not to embellish the truth with ideas of his own.我要他不对事实添油加醋。