一个二流的包法利夫人？

By+Stefan+Zweig

故事发生在一次大战前的10年的法国。里昂少妇亨丽特（Henriette）跟一位来此不到一天的风流倜傥、年轻俊美的法国小伙子突然私奔了！此事打破了饭店的平静，成为餐桌上茶余饭后的谈资和争论的话题。法国俊男的社交风度以及优雅得体的言谈举止获得了所有客人的赞赏及好感。他跟亨丽特的先生谈政治，跟她两个十几岁的女儿打网球，跟肥胖的丹麦人一起钓鱼，跟德国夫妇在大堂里闲聊。亨丽特的丈夫是里昂的制造商，太太的失踪使他感到万分惊慌，担心妻子发生意外导致生命危险。当他发现妻子留给他的告别信时又感到无比恼怒，伤心至极。

作者斯蒂芬·茨威格（1881—1942）出身于维也纳富裕的犹太家庭，代表作有短篇小说《一个陌生女人的来信》、长篇小说《心灵的焦灼》、回忆录《昨日的世界》等。他青年时代在维也纳和柏林攻读哲学和文学，日后周游世界，结交罗曼·罗兰和弗洛伊德等杰出人物并深受影响。

本文节选自茨威格的中篇小说《一个女人一生中的二十四小时》，在这部作品中，作者以极其细腻、精致的笔触刻画了人物内心激烈的挣扎和心灵的纠结，让读者感受到灵魂的震颤，也感觉到作者深受弗洛伊德心理学的影响。

You will understand that such an event， striking like lightning before our very eyes and our perceptions（感官）， was likely to cause considerable turmoil（骚动）in persons usually accustomed to an easygoing existence and carefree pastimes. But while this extraordinary incident was certainly the point of departure（起点）for the discussion that broke out so vehemently（激烈的地）at our table， almost bringing us to blows， in essence the dispute was more fundamental， an angry conflict between two warring concepts of life. For it soon became known from the indiscretion（不慎）of a chambermaid（女服务员）who had read the letter—in his helpless fury， the devastated husband had crumpled it up（揉皱）and dropped it on the floor somewhere—that Madame Henriette had not left alone but， by mutual agreement， with the young Frenchman[for whom most peoples like now swiftly began to evaporate（消失）]. At first glance， of course， it might seem perfectly understandable for this minor（二流的）Madame Bovary to exchange her stout（矮胖的）， provincial（乡下的）husband for an elegant and handsome young fellow. But what aroused so much indignation（愤慨）in all present was the circumstance that neither the manufacturer nor his daughters， nor even Madame Henreitte herself， had ever set eyes on this Lovelace2（浪子）before， and consequently their evening conversation for a couple of hours on the terrace（露臺）， and the one-hour session in the garden over black coffee， seemed to have sufficed to（足以）make a woman about thirty-three years old and of blameless reputation abandon her husband and two children overnight， following a young dandy（花花公子）previously unknown to her without a second thought. This apparently evident fact was unanimously condemned（遭到一致谴责）at our table as perfidious（背信弃义的、不忠的）deceit（欺骗）and a cunning manoeuvre（狡猾的策略）on the part of the two lovers： of course Madame must have been conducting a clandestine（秘密的）affair with the young man long before， and he had come here， Pied Piper3（诱拐者，善开空头支票的人）that he was， only to settle the final details of their flight， for—so our company deduced（推理）—it was out of the question for a decent woman who had known a man a mere couple of hours to run off just like that when he first whistled her up（召唤）. It amused me to take a different view， and I energetically defended such an eventuality as possible， even probable in a woman who at heart had perhaps been ready to take some decisive action through all the years of a tedious（沉闷的）， disappointing marriage. My unexpected opposition quickly made the discussion more general， and it became particularly agitated（激动的，焦虑不安的）when both married couples， the Germans and the Italians alike， denied the existence of the coup de foudre（一见钟情）with positively scornful indignation， condemning it as folly（荒唐，愚蠢）and tasteless romantic fantasy.

Well， its of no importance here to go back in every detail over the stormy course of an argument conducted between soup and dessert： only professionals of the table dh？te（餐馆的饭桌上）are witty（说话风趣的）， and points made in the heat of a chance（偶然的）dispute at table are usually bana（l陈腐的），since the speakers resort to（求助于）them clumsily（粗陋地）and in haste. It is also difficult to explain how our discussion came to assume the form of insulting remarks so quickly； I think it grew so vehement in the first place because of the instinctive wish of both husbands to reassure themselves that their own wives were incapable of such shallow（肤浅的）inconstancy（易变，不定性）. Unfortunately they could find no better way of expressing their feelings than to tell me that no one could speak as I did except a man who judged the feminine psyche（女性心理）by a bachelors random conquests， which came only too cheap. This accusation rather annoyed me， and when the German lady added her mite（微小的见解）by remarking instructively that there were real women on the one hand and “natural-born tarts”（天生做婊子的人）on the other， and in her opinion Madame Henriette must have been one of the latter， I lost patience entirely and became aggressive myself. Such a denial of the obvious fact that at certain times in her life a woman is delivered up（屈服于）to mysterious powers beyond her own will and judgment， I said， merely concealed fear of our own instincts， of the demonic（惡魔的）element in our nature， and many people seemed to take pleasure in feeling themselves stronger， purer and more moral than those who are “easily led astray”（容易走火入魔）. Personally， I added， I thought it more honorable for a woman to follow her instincts freely and passionately than to betray her husband in his own arms with her eyes closed， as so many did. Such， roughly， was the gist（要点）of my remarks， and the more the others attacked poor Madame Henriette in a conversation now rising to fever pitch（狂热，极度兴奋）， the more passionately I defended her （going far beyond what I actually felt in the case）. My enthusiasm amounted to what in student circles might have been described as a challenge to the two married couples， and as a not very harmonious quartet（四重奏）they went for me with such indignant（愤愤不平的）solidarity that the old Dane（丹麦人）， who was sitting there with a jovial（快乐的）expression， much like the referee（裁判）at a football match with stopwatch in hand， had to tap his knuckles（指关节）on the table from time to time in admonishment（警告）. “Gentlemen， please！” But it never worked for long. One of the husbands had jumped up from the table three times already， red in the face， and could be calmed by his wife only with difficulty—in short， a dozen minutes more and our discussion would have ended in violence， had not Mrs. C suddenly poured oil on the stormy waters of the conversation.endprint

Mrs. C， the white-haired， distinguished old English lady， presided over（主持）our table as unofficial arbiter（仲裁者）. Sitting very upright in her place， turning to everyone with the same uniform friendliness， saying little and yet listening with the most gratifying（令人满足的）interest， she was a pleasing sight from the purely physical viewpoint， and an air of wonderfully calm composure（镇静）emanated（散发）from her aristocratically（贵族的）reserved（缄默的）nature. Up to a certain point she kept her distance from the rest of us， although she could also show special kindness with tactfu（l机智的，老练的）delicacy： she spent most of her time in the garden reading books， and sometimes played the piano， but she was seldom to be seen in company or deep in conversation. You scarcely noticed her， yet she exerted（施加影响）a curious influence over us all， for no sooner did she now， for the first time， intervene（调停）in our discussion than we all felt， with embarrassment， that we had been too loud and intemperate（不克制的）.

Mrs. C had made use of the awkward pause when the German gentleman jumped brusquely（唐突地）up and was then induced（被说服）to sit quietly down again. Unexpectedly， she raised her clear， grey eyes， looked at me indecisively for a moment， and then， with almost objective clarity， took up the subject in her own way.

“So， you think， if I understand you correctly， that Madame Henriette—that a woman can be cast（抛向）unwittingly（不知情地）into a sudden adventure， can do things that she herself would have thought impossible an hour earlier， and for which she can hardly be held responsible？”

“I feel sure of it， maam.”

“But then all moral judgements would be meaningless， and any kind of vicious（恶意的）excess could be justified. If you really think that a crime passionnel（因情欲妒忌而引起的犯罪）， as the French call it， is no crime at all， then what is the state judiciary（国家司法部门）for？ It doesnt take a great deal of good will—and you yourself have a remarkable amount of that，” she added， with a slight smile， “to see passion in every crime， and use that passion to excuse it.”

The clear yet almost humorous tone of her words did me good， and instinctively adopting her objective stance（立場，观点）I answered half in jest（开玩笑地）， half in earnest myself： “Im sure that the state judiciary takes a more severe view of such things than I do； its duty is to protect morality and convention without regard for pity， so it is obliged to judge and make no excuses. But as a private person I dont see why I should voluntarily assume the role of public prosecutor（公诉人）. Id prefer to appear for the defense. Personally， Id rather understand others than condemn them.”

Mrs. C looked straight at me for a while with her clear grey eyes， and hesitated. I began to fear she had failed to understand what I said， and was preparing to repeat it in English. But with a curious gravity， as if conducting an examination， she continued with her questions.

“Dont you think it contemptible（可鄙的）or shocking， though， for a woman to leave her husband and her children to follow some chance-met man， when she cant even know if he is worth her love？ Can you really excuse such reckless（轻率的）， promiscuous（滥交的，淫乱的）conduct in a woman who is no longer in her first youth， and should have disciplined herself to preserve her self-respect， if only for the sake of her children？”

“I repeat， maam，” I persisted， “that I decline to judge or condemn her in this case. To you， I can readily（乐意地）admit that I was exaggerating a little just now—poor Madame Henriette is certainly no heroine， not even an adventuress（女冒险家）by nature， let alone a grand amoureuse（恋人，情人）. So far as I know her， she seems to me just an average， fallible（易犯错误的）woman. I do feel a little respect for her because she bravely followed the dictates（指令）of her own will， but even more pity， since tomorrow， if not today， she is sure to be deeply unhappy. She may have acted unwisely and certainly too hastily， but her conduct was not base（卑鄙的）or mean， and I still challenge anyones right to despise（鄙视）the poor unfortunate woman.”

“And what about yourself； do you still feel exactly the same respect and esteem（尊敬）for her？ Dont you see any difference between the woman you knew the day before yesterday as a respectable wife， and the woman who ran off with a perfect stranger a day later？”

“None at all. Not the slightest， not the least difference.”

“Is that so？” She instinctively spoke those words in English； the whole conversation seemed to be occupying her mind to a remarkable degree. After a brief moments thought， she raised her clear eyes to me again， with a question in them.

“And suppose you were to meet Madame Henriette tomorrow， lets say in Nice on the young mans arm， would you still greet her？”

“Of course.”

“And speak to her？”

“Of course.”

“If… if you were married， would you introduce such a woman to your wife as if nothing had happened？”

“Of course.”

“Would you really？” she said， in English again， speaking in tones of incredulous（怀疑的）astonishment.

“Indeed I would，” I answered， unconsciously falling into English too.

Mrs. C was silent. She still seemed to be thinking hard， and suddenly， looking at me as if amazed at her own courage， she said： “I dont know if I would. Perhaps I might.” And with the indefinable（難以解释清楚的）and peculiarly English ability to end a conversation firmly but without brusque discourtesy（唐突、粗鲁的言行）， she rose and offered me her hand in a friendly gesture. Her intervention had restored peace， and we were all privately grateful to her for ensuring that although we had been at daggers drawn（剑拔弩张）a moment ago， we could speak to each other with tolerable civility（礼貌）again. The dangerously charged atmosphere was relieved by a few light remarks.

1. 《包法利夫人》是法国19世纪现实主义作家福楼拜的成名作和代表作。农家女艾玛瞧不起自己的丈夫乡镇医生包法利，梦想传奇式的爱情，她两度偷情使自己成为高利贷者盘剥的对象，最后走投无路，只好服毒自杀。

2. Lovelace： 色鬼，浪子，原为18世纪英国著名小说家塞缪尔·理查逊（Samuel Richardson）的作品《克拉丽莎》中人物的名字。

3. Pied Piper： 穿花衣的吹笛手，德国传说中的人物，被请来驱逐镇上的老鼠，却拿不到报酬，因而吹笛子把镇上的小孩拐走。