牛津書蟲系列 多里安·格雷的畫像 09

9

9 愛情的死亡-“長得漂亮比做好人要好。”

It was long past midday when Dorian woke up.His servant brought him tea and his letters，but he did not read them.Yesterday seemed like a bad dream，but when he went downstairs，he saw the covered picture.Should he uncover it，he wondered?Had the face in the picture really changed?Did he want to know?He lit a cigarette and thought for a while.Yes，he had to know.He lifted the cover.

時間早已過了正午，多里安才醒來。仆人端來了茶并帶來了信件，可是多里安沒有讀這些信。昨天就像一場惡夢。下樓時，他看見了被遮蓋著的畫像。他應該掀開它嗎?他思忖道。畫像的臉真的改變了嗎?他想知道嗎?他點燃一支煙，想了一會兒。是的，他得知道，他掀開了遮著的布。

There was no mistake.The portrait had really changed.He could not explain it，could not understand it.It was impossible，but it had happened.

沒錯，畫像確實變了。他無法解釋，也不能明白。這是不可能的，但又的確發(fā)生了。

Dorian felt sick and ashamed.He did not know what to do，or what to think.Finally，he sat down and wrote a long letter to Sybil Vane.He covered page after page with wild words of love.Then，suddenly，he heard Lord Henry's voice at the door.Dorian jumped up and covered the picture.

多里安覺得懊喪和慚愧。他不知道該怎么做，或者該怎么想。最后，他坐下，給西比爾·文寫了一封長信。他一頁又一頁地寫滿了瘋狂的愛的語句。突然，他聽見了門口亨利勛爵的聲音。多里安跳起來，蓋上了畫。

'My dear boy，'said Lord Henry，as he came in.'I'm so sorry.But you must not think too much about her.'

“親愛的，”亨利勛爵進來時說，“我非常抱歉，但你不該過多地想她。”

'Do you mean about Sybil Vane?'asked Dorian.'There's nothing to be sorry about.I want to be good，and I'm going to be happy.I shall marry Sybil Vane.I'm not going to break my promise to her.'

“你指的是西比爾·文嗎?”多里安問。“沒有什么可抱歉的。我想好好做人，我要快樂，我將娶西比爾·文，對她履行諾言。”

'Marry Sybil Vane!'Lord Henry stared at Dorian.'Didn't you get my letter?'

“娶西比爾·文!”亨利勛爵瞪著多里安。“你沒收到我的信嗎?”

'I haven't read my letters today，'said Dorian slowly.

“今天我還沒有讀信。”多里安慢慢地說。

Lord Henry walked across the room and took Dorian's hands in his own.

亨利勛爵從房門處走過來，抓起多里安的雙手。

'Dorian，'he said quietly，'don't be frightened—my letter told you that Sybil Vane is dead.She killed herself at the theatre last night.'

“多里安。”他溫和地說，“別怕——我在信里告訴你西比爾·文已經(jīng)死了，她昨天晚上在劇院里自殺了。”

'No，no，that's impossible!'cried Dorian.He pulled his hands away and stared at Lord Henry with wild eyes.'This is terrible，Harry.I have murdered Sybil Vane!'

“不，不，不可能!”多里安喊道。他抽回雙手，用發(fā)瘋的眼神瞪著亨利勛爵。“這太可怕了，哈里。是我殺死了西比爾·文!”

'She killed herself，'said Lord Henry calmly.'You didn' t murder her.She killed herself because she loved you.It's very sad，of course，but you mustn't think too much about it.You must come and have dinner with me.'

“她是自殺的。”亨利勛爵平靜地說，“你沒有謀殺她。她自殺是因為愛你，這當然很不幸，但你不要過多地想這件事，你必須來和我共進晚餐。”

'Harry，listen.Last night I told her that I didn't want to see her again.But after I left her，I realized how cruel I had been.I decided to go back to her，to marry her.And now she is dead!Harry，what shall I do?You don't know the danger that I am in.'

“哈里，聽著。昨晚我告訴她我不想再見到她。但我離開她后，我意識到我是多么的殘忍。我決定回到她身邊，娶她?，F(xiàn)在她死了，我該怎么辦?你不知道我面臨的危險。”

'My dear Dorian，said Lord Henry.'Marriage with Sybil Vane was not for you.No，no…marriages like that are never successful.The man quickly becomes unhappy and bored.Of course，he's kind to his wife.We can always be kind to people that we're not interested in.But the woman soon discovers that her husband is bored.And then she either becomes terribly unfashionable，or wears very expensive hats that another woman's husband has to pay for.'

“親愛的多里安，”亨利勛爵說，“和西比爾·文結(jié)婚不適合你。不，不……這樣的婚姻從來不會成功。男的很快變得不高興和厭倦，當然他對妻子還好，我們總會友好對待一些我們不感興趣的人。但這個女人很快發(fā)現(xiàn)丈夫已經(jīng)厭倦了，于是她變得要么可怕地落后于時尚，要么戴著另一個女人的丈夫給買的昂貴的帽子。”

The young man walked up and down me room.'I suppose that's true，'he said unhappily.'But Harry，I don't think that I'm cruel.Do you?'

年輕人在房間里來回走動。“也許你說的是真的，”他不高興地說，“但是哈里，我不認為我很殘酷，你呢?”

Lord Henry smiled.He told Dorian Gray what he wanted to hear.And then he told him clever，amusing stories about the women that he himself had loved.He said that Sybil Vane's death was a beautiful end to a love story for an actress.'The girl never really lived，'he continued，'so she never really died.Don't cry for Sybil Vane.She was less real than Juliet.'

亨利勛爵一笑，他講了些多里安·格雷愛聽的話，然后又講了他愛過的女人的聰明逗人的故事。他說西比爾·文的死是一名女演員愛情故事的美麗結(jié)局。他繼續(xù)說：“這個姑娘從未真正生活過，因此她也從沒真正地死。不要為西比爾·文哭泣，和朱麗葉比，她更不真實。”

After a while Dorian Gray looked up.'You have explained me to myself，Harry，'he said slowly.'How well you know me!But we won't talk of this again.It's been a wonderful lesson for me.That's all.'

過了一會兒多里安·格雷抬起頭。“你說服了我，哈里。”他緩慢地說，“你太了解我了!我們別再談這事了，這是我的一個極好的教訓，到此為止吧。”

When Lord Henry had left，Dorian uncovered the picture again.He had to choose between a good life and a bad life，he thought.But then he realized that，in fact，he had already chosen.He would stay young for ever，and enjoy every wild pleasure that life could give him.The face in the picture would grow old and ugly and unkind，but he would stay beautiful for ever.He covered the picture again，and smiled.

亨利勛爵走后，多里安又掀開了畫像。他想他必須選擇過正人君子的生活還是過不道德的生活。但他意識到他實際上已經(jīng)做出了選擇。他將永遠年輕，享受生活給予的每一份瘋狂的快樂。畫像中的臉將變老、變丑、變兇，但是他將永遠漂亮。他又蓋上畫像，露出了笑容。

An hour later he was at Lord Henry's house，and Lord Henry was smiling at his side.

一小時后他來到了亨利勛爵家，亨利勛爵在他旁邊微笑著。