第53章 包法利夫人 (1)

　　Madame Bovary

　　平庸的医学学生查理·包法利，在他那年长而

　　衰弱的太太去世后和心爱的爱玛结婚。浪漫的爱玛

　　对这个不懂生活情趣的丈夫日渐厌倦，查理为了妻

　　子能高兴，搬到了勇维尔·拉贝。在这里爱玛接连

　　遭到了赖昂和罗道尔弗的抛弃。绝望的爱玛委身于

　　读书归来的赖昂，陷入了堕落的快乐中。为了维持

　　与这些男人的关系，爱玛一再举债，直至破产。在

　　绝望之余，她服砷自杀了。

　　[ 法] 居斯塔夫·福楼拜（ Gustave Flaubert）

　　We were in class when the head-master came in，followed

　　by a“new fellow，”not wearing the school uniform，and a school

　　servant carrying a large desk. Those who had been asleep woke

　　up，and every one rose as if just surprised at his work.

　　The headmaster made a sign to us to sit down. Then，turning

　　to the classmaster，he said to him in a low voice—

　　“Monsieur Roger，here is a pupil whom I recommend to

　　your care ；he’ll be in the second. If his work and conduct are

　　satisfactory，he will go into one of the upper classes，as becomes

　　his age.”

　　The“new fellow，”standing in the corner behind the door so

　　that he could hardly be seen，was a country lad of about fifteen，and

　　taller than any of us. His hair was cut square on his forehead

　　like a village chorister’s ；he looked reliable，but very ill at ease.

　　Although he was not broad-shouldered，his short school jacket

　　of green cloth with black buttons must have been tight about the

　　arm-holes，and showed at the opening of the cuffs red wrists

　　accustomed to being bare. His legs，in blue stockings，looked out

　　from beneath yellow trousers，drawn tight by braces，He wore

　　stout，ill-cleaned，hob-nailed boots.

　　We began repeating the lesson. He listened with all his ears，

　　as attentive as if at a sermon，not daring even to cross his legs

　　or lean on his elbow ；and when at two o’clock the bell rang，the

　　master was obliged to tell him to fall into line with the rest of us.

　　When we came back to work，we were in the habit of throwing

　　our caps on the ground so as to have our hands more free ；we

　　used from the door to toss them under the form，so that they hit

　　against the wall and made a lot of dust: it was the thing.

　　But，whether he had not noticed the trick，or did not dare

　　to attempt it，the“new fellow”，was still holding his cap on his

　　knees even after prayers were over. It was one of those headgears

　　of composite order，in which we can find traces of the

　　bearskin，shako，billycock hat，sealskin cap，and cotton nightcap

　　；one of those poor things，in fine，whose dumb ugliness has

　　depths of expression，like an imbecile’s face. Oval，stiffened with

　　whalebone，it began with three round knobs ；then came in

　　succession lozenges of velvet and rabbit-skin separated by a red

　　band ；after that a sort of bag that ended in a cardboard polygon

　　covered with complicated braiding，from which hung，at the end

　　of a long thin cord，small twisted gold threads in the manner of a

　　tassel. The cap was new ；its peak shone.

　　“Rise，”said the master.

　　He stood up ；his cap fell. The whole class began to laugh.

　　He stooped to pick it up. A neighbor knocked it down again with

　　his elbow ；he picked it up once more.

　　“Get rid of your helmet，”said the master，who was a bit of

　　a wag.

　　There was a burst of laughter from the boys，which so

　　thoroughly put the poor lad out of countenance that he did not

　　know whether to keep his cap in his hand，leave it on the ground，

　　or put it on his head. He sat down again and placed it on his knee.

　　“Rise，”repeated the master，“and tell me your name.”

　　The new boy articulated in a stammering voice an unintelligible

　　name.