Justine 淑女的眼泪 Chapter 3

Juliette had just attained ¹ her twentieth year when a certain Comte de Lorsange, a gentleman out of Anjou, about forty years of age, became so captivated by her he resolved to bestow ² his name upon her; he awarded her an income of twelve thousand pounds and assured her of the rest of his fortune were he to be the first to die; he gave her, as well, a house, servants, lackeys ³, and the sort of mundane ⁴ consideration which, in the space of two or three years, succeeded in causing her beginnings to be forgot., ,It was at this point the fell Juliette, oblivious ⁵ of all the fine feelings that had been hers by birthright and good education, warped ⁶ by bad counsel and dangerous books, spurred by the desire to enjoy herself, but alone, and to have a name but not a single chain, bent ⁷ her attentions to the culpable ⁸ idea of abridging ⁹ her husband's days. The odious ¹⁰ project once conceived, she consolidated ¹¹ her scheme during those dangerous moments when the physical aspect is fired by ethical ¹² error, instants when one refuses oneself much less, for then nothing is opposed to the irregularity of vows ¹³ or to the impetuosity of desires, and the voluptuousness ¹⁴ one experiences is sharp and lively only by reason of the number of the restraints whence one bursts free, or their sanctity. The dream dissipated, were one to recover one's common-sense mood the thing would be of but mediocre ¹⁵ import, 'tis the story of mental wrong-doing; everyone knows very well it offends no one; but, alas ¹⁶! one sometimes carries the thing a little farther. What, one ventures to wonder, what would not be the idea's realization ¹⁸, if its mere ¹⁹ abstract shape has just exalted ²⁰, has just so profoundly moved one? The accursed reverie is vivified, and its existence is a crime., ,Fortunately for herself, Madame de Lorsange executed it in such secrecy ²¹ that she was sheltered from all pursuit and with her husband she buried all traces of the frightful ²² deed which precipitated ²³ him into the tomb., , ,Until she reached the age of twenty-six, Madame de Lorsange made further brilliant conquests: she wrought ²⁴ the financial downfall of three foreign ambassadors, four Farmers-general, two bishops ²⁵, a cardinal ²⁶, and three knights ²⁷ of the King's Order; but as it is rarely one stops after the first offense ²⁸, especially when it has turned out very happily, the unhappy Juliette blackened herself with two additional crimes similar to the first: one in order to plunder ²⁹ a lover who had entrusted ³⁰ a considerable sum to her, of which the man's family had no intelligence; the other in order to capture a legacy ³¹ of one hundred thousand crowns another one of her lovers granted her in the name of a third, who was charged to pay her that amount after his death. To these horrors Madame de Lorsange added three or four infanticides. The fear of spoiling her pretty figure, the desire to conceal ³² a double intrigue ³³, all combined to make her resolve to stifle ³⁴ the proof of her debauches in her womb; and these mis-deeds, like the others, unknown, did not prevent our adroit ³⁵ and ambitious woman from finding new dupes every day., ,It is hence true that prosperity may attend conduct of the very worst, and that in the very thick of disorder ³⁶ and corruption ³⁷, all of what mankind calls happiness may shed itself bountifully upon life; but let this cruel and fatal truth cause no alarm; let honest folk be no more seriously tormented ³⁸ by the example we are going to present of disaster everywhere dogging the heels of Virtue ³⁹; this criminal felicity is deceiving, it is seeming only; independently of the punishment most certainly reserved by Providence ⁴⁰ for those whom success in crime has seduced ⁴¹, do they not nourish in the depths of their soul a worm which unceasingly gnaws ⁴², prevents them from finding joy in these fictive gleams of meretricious ⁴³ well-being ⁴⁴, and, instead of delights, leaves naught ⁴⁵ in their soul but the rending ⁴⁶ memory of the crimes which have led them to where they are? With what regards the luckless one fate persecutes ⁴⁷, he has his heart for his comfort, and the interior ecstasies ⁴⁸ virtues ⁴⁹ procure ⁵⁰ bring him speedy restitution ⁵¹ for the injustice ⁵² of men., ,Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位 。,He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.他希望将那些伟大的荣誉授予这位英雄。