By+Stefan+Zweig

故事發(fā)生在一次大戰(zhàn)前的10年的法國。里昂少婦亨麗特（Henriette）跟一位來此不到一天的風(fēng)流倜儻、年輕俊美的法國小伙子突然私奔了！此事打破了飯店的平靜，成為餐桌上茶余飯后的談資和爭論的話題。法國俊男的社交風(fēng)度以及優(yōu)雅得體的言談舉止獲得了所有客人的贊賞及好感。他跟亨麗特的先生談?wù)?，跟她兩個十幾歲的女兒打網(wǎng)球，跟肥胖的丹麥人一起釣魚，跟德國夫婦在大堂里閑聊。亨麗特的丈夫是里昂的制造商，太太的失蹤使他感到萬分驚慌，擔(dān)心妻子發(fā)生意外導(dǎo)致生命危險。當(dāng)他發(fā)現(xiàn)妻子留給他的告別信時又感到無比惱怒，傷心至極。

作者斯蒂芬·茨威格（1881—1942）出身于維也納富裕的猶太家庭，代表作有短篇小說《一個陌生女人的來信》、長篇小說《心靈的焦灼》、回憶錄《昨日的世界》等。他青年時代在維也納和柏林攻讀哲學(xué)和文學(xué)，日后周游世界，結(jié)交羅曼·羅蘭和弗洛伊德等杰出人物并深受影響。

本文節(jié)選自茨威格的中篇小說《一個女人一生中的二十四小時》，在這部作品中，作者以極其細(xì)膩、精致的筆觸刻畫了人物內(nèi)心激烈的掙扎和心靈的糾結(jié)，讓讀者感受到靈魂的震顫，也感覺到作者深受弗洛伊德心理學(xué)的影響。

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（騷動）in persons usually accustomed to an easygoing existence and carefree pastimes. But while this extraordinary incident was certainly the point of departure（起點）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（女服務(wù)員）who had read the letter—in his helpless fury， the devastated husband had crumpled it up（揉皺）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（鄉(xiāng)下的）husband for an elegant and handsome young fellow. But what aroused so much indignation（憤慨）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（遭到一致譴責(zé)）at our table as perfidious（背信棄義的、不忠的）deceit（欺騙）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（誘拐者，善開空頭支票的人）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（召喚）. 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（沉悶的）， disappointing marriage. My unexpected opposition quickly made the discussion more general， and it became particularly agitated（激動的，焦慮不安的）when both married couples， the Germans and the Italians alike， denied the existence of the coup de foudre（一見鐘情）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（餐館的飯桌上）are witty（說話風(fēng)趣的）， and points made in the heat of a chance（偶然的）dispute at table are usually bana（l陳腐的），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（膚淺的）inconstancy（易變，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（微小的見解）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（要點）of my remarks， and the more the others attacked poor Madame Henriette in a conversation now rising to fever pitch（狂熱，極度興奮）， 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（憤憤不平的）solidarity that the old Dane（丹麥人）， who was sitting there with a jovial（快樂的）expression， much like the referee（裁判）at a football match with stopwatch in hand， had to tap his knuckles（指關(guān)節(jié)）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（令人滿足的）interest， she was a pleasing sight from the purely physical viewpoint， and an air of wonderfully calm composure（鎮(zhèn)靜）emanated（散發(fā)）from her aristocratically（貴族的）reserved（緘默的）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機智的，老練的）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（施加影響）a curious influence over us all， for no sooner did she now， for the first time， intervene（調(diào)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（被說服）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（拋向）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（惡意的）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（國家司法部門）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，觀點）I answered half in jest（開玩笑地）， 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（公訴人）. 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（輕率的）， promiscuous（濫交的，淫亂的）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（樂意地）admit that I was exaggerating a little just now—poor Madame Henriette is certainly no heroine， not even an adventuress（女冒險家）by nature， let alone a grand amoureuse（戀人，情人）. So far as I know her， she seems to me just an average， fallible（易犯錯誤的）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（鄙視）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（懷疑的）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（難以解釋清楚的）and peculiarly English ability to end a conversation firmly but without brusque discourtesy（唐突、粗魯?shù)难孕校?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（劍拔弩張）a moment ago， we could speak to each other with tolerable civility（禮貌）again. The dangerously charged atmosphere was relieved by a few light remarks.

1. 《包法利夫人》是法國19世紀(jì)現(xiàn)實主義作家福樓拜的成名作和代表作。農(nóng)家女艾瑪瞧不起自己的丈夫鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)醫(yī)生包法利，夢想傳奇式的愛情，她兩度偷情使自己成為高利貸者盤剝的對象，最后走投無路，只好服毒自殺。

2. Lovelace： 色鬼，浪子，原為18世紀(jì)英國著名小說家塞繆爾·理查遜（Samuel Richardson）的作品《克拉麗莎》中人物的名字。

3. Pied Piper： 穿花衣的吹笛手，德國傳說中的人物，被請來驅(qū)逐鎮(zhèn)上的老鼠，卻拿不到報酬，因而吹笛子把鎮(zhèn)上的小孩拐走。