CHAPTER I（1）

第一章

There are houses in certain provincial towns whose aspect inspires melancholy, akin to that called forth by sombre cloisters, dreary moorlands, or the desolation of ruins. Within these houses there is, perhaps, the silence of the cloister, the barrenness of moors, the skeleton of ruins; life and movement are so stagnant there that a stranger might think them uninhabited, were it not that he encounters suddenly the pale, cold glance of a motionless person, whose half—monastic face peers beyond the window—casing at the sound of an unaccustomed step.

在外省的某些城镇，有些房屋的样子让人觉得凄凉，类似于昏暗的修道院、萧索的旷野或荒芜的废墟给人的感觉。也许，在这些房子里，修道院的寂静、旷野的荒芜和废墟的凋败都兼而有之。里面的生活起居是如此沉寂，要不是突然看见窗口有个面孔像修道士的人，一动不动，一听到陌生的脚步声，就会目光暗淡、冷漠地朝窗外瞥上一眼的话，外地人会以为那是些无人居住的空宅。

Such elements of sadness formed the physiognomy, as it were, of a dwelling—house in Saumur which stands at the end of the steep street leading to the chateau in the upper part of the town. This street—now little frequented, hot in summer, cold in winter, dark in certain sections—is remarkable for the resonance of its little pebbly pavement, always clean and dry, for the narrowness of its tortuous road—way, for the peaceful stillness of its houses, which belong to the old town and are over—topped by the ramparts. Houses three centuries old are still solid, though built of wood, and their divers aspects add to the originality which commends this portion of Saumur to the attention of artists and antiquaries.

可以说，索米尔一所住宅的外观就带有这种悲凉的成分，它坐落在一条陡直的街道尽头，那条街道通向城市高处的古堡。这条街道——如今已行人稀少，夏天炎热，冬天寒冷，某些地段很阴暗——很有特点：有回声的小石子路，总是洁净干爽；狭窄的街道弯弯曲曲；街边的房屋属于老城区，低卧在城墙脚下，非常幽静。三百年之久的房屋虽是木质结构，却依然坚固。其形式各异的外观别有风格，使得索米尔城的这个区域颇受艺术家和古董商的青睐。

It is difficult to pass these houses without admiring the enormous oaken beams, their ends carved into fantastic figures, which crown with a black bas—relief the lower floor of most of them. In one place these transverse timbers are covered with slate and mark a bluish line along the frail wall of a dwelling covered by a roofen colombage which bends beneath the weight of years, and whose rotting shingles are twisted by the alternate action of sun and rain. In another place blackened, worn—out window—sills, with delicate sculptures now scarcely discernible, seem too weak to bear the brown clay pots from which springs the heart 's—ease or the rose—bush of some poor working—woman. Farther on are doors studded with enormous nails, where the genius of our forefathers has traced domestic hieroglyphics, of which the meaning is now lost forever. Here a Protestant attested his belief; there a Leaguer cursed Henry IV.; elsewhere some bourgeois has carved the insignia of his noblesse de cloches, symbols of his long—forgotten magisterial glory. The whole history of France is there.

经过这些房屋时，很难不去赞叹那些巨大的栎木横梁，它们的两头被雕成奇特的造型，它们和一条黑色的浅浮雕一起覆盖在多数房屋的底层顶端。在某个地方，这些横木上盖着石板，在房子不大结实的墙上勾出一道淡蓝色的线条，其木柱支撑的屋顶因年久而被压弯，腐朽的墙面板由于日晒雨淋的交替作用也已经扭曲变形。在另一个地方，破旧的窗台发了黑，上面精巧的雕刻现在已模糊难辨，显得非常不结实，似乎都承受不住某个贫苦女工放上去的栽着心安草或是蔷薇丛的棕色陶盆。再往远处，是些镶着硕大钉子的门，上面有我们的天才祖先们留下的家传象形文字，文字的意义现在是永远无法知晓了。有的是一个新教徒在证明他的信仰；有的是反新教盟员在诅咒亨利四世；还有的则是某个资产阶级刻下的钟形贵族徽章，以彰显他早已被人遗忘的当过地方长官的荣耀。法国的整部历史都在这里。

Next to a tottering house with roughly plastered walls, where an artisan enshrines his tools, rises the mansion of a country gentleman, on the stone arch of which above the door vestiges of armorial bearings may still be seen, battered by the many revolutions that have shaken France since 1789. In this hilly street the ground—floors of the merchants are neither shops nor warehouses; lovers of the Middle Ages will here find the ouvrouere of our forefathers in all its naive simplicity. These low rooms, which have no shop—frontage, no show—windows, in fact no glass at all, are deep and dark and without interior or exterior decoration. Their doors open in two parts, each roughly iron—bound; the upper half is fastened back within the room, the lower half, fitted with a spring—bell, swings continually to and fro. Air and light reach the damp den within, either through the upper half of the door, or through an open space between the ceiling and a low front wall, breast—high, which is closed by solid shutters that are taken down every morning, put up every evening, and held in place by heavy iron bars.

一幢墙壁被粉刷得很粗糙的摇摇晃晃的房屋俨然成了工匠卖弄手艺的地方。旁边矗立着一位乡绅的宅邸，门楣石拱上的贵族徽章，历经一七八九年以来席卷法国的数次大革命的摧残，其遗迹仍依稀可辨。在这条坡势很陡的街道上，商铺的底层既不是商店，也不是仓库，喜欢中世纪的人会发现，这里就像我们祖先的缝纫工场一样，保持着古朴简易的风貌。这些低矮的房屋没有门面，也没有橱窗，实际上一块玻璃都没装，它们进深长，而且阴暗，里外都没有任何装饰。房门分成两截开，每一截都简陋地包着铁皮，上半截固定住往屋里开，下半截装有弹簧门铃，不断地来回开进开出。空气和光线从门的上半截，或是从屋顶和齐胸高的低矮前墙之间的空隙透进那潮湿的小屋子。前墙上封着结实的百叶窗，每天早晨卸下，夜晚装上，并用粗重的铁条固定住。

This wall serves as a counter for the merchandise. No delusive display is there; only samples of the business, whatever it may chance to be, —such, for instance, as three or four tubs full of codfish and salt, a few bundles of sail—cloth, cordage, copper wire hanging from the joists above, iron hoops for casks ranged along the wall, or a few pieces of cloth upon the shelves. Enter. A neat girl, glowing with youth, wearing a white kerchief, her arms red and bare, drops her knitting and calls her father or her mother, one of whom comes forward and sells you what you want, phlegmatically, civilly, or arrogantly, according to his or her individual character, whether it be a matter of two sous' or twenty thousand francs' worth of merchandise. You may see a cooper, for instance, sitting in his doorway and twirling his thumbs as he talks with a neighbor. To all appearance he owns nothing more than a few miserable boat—ribs and two or three bundles of laths; but below in the port his teeming wood—yard supplies all the cooperage trade of Anjou. He knows to a plank how many casks are needed if the vintage is good. A hot season makes him rich, a rainy season ruins him; in a single morning puncheons worth eleven francs have been known to drop to six. In this country, as in Touraine, atmospheric vicissitudes control commercial life. Wine—growers, proprietors, wood—merchants, coopers, inn—keepers, mariners, all keep watch of the sun. They tremble when they go to bed lest they should hear in the morning of a frost in the night; they dread rain, wind, drought, and want water, heat, and clouds to suit their fancy. A perpetual duel goes on between the heavens and their terrestrial interests. The barometer smooths, saddens, or makes merry their countenances, turn and turn about. From end to end of this street, formerly the Grand 'Rue de Saumur, the words: Here's golden weather, are passed from door to door; or each man calls to his neighbor:

这堵墙用来作陈列商品的柜台。这里绝无任何哄骗人的招数，只摆着货物样品，不管卖的是什么货——比如说，满满三四桶鳕鱼和盐、几捆帆布、绳索、吊在托梁上的铜丝、沿墙摆放的木桶铁箍，或者是摆在架子上的几块布料。顾客推门进来。一个整洁的姑娘年轻亮丽，头戴白色方巾，赤裸的胳膊通红，她放下手里的毛线活，唤来她的父亲或是母亲，他们中的一位会上前卖给你想要的东西，也许是两个苏的买卖，也许是两万法郎的生意，他们的态度或者冷淡，或者殷勤，或者傲慢，全看他或她的个性了。你可能会看到一个箍桶匠，比如说，正坐在门口，绕着他的大拇指跟一个邻居聊天。表面上，他只有少得可怜的酒瓶架和两三捆板条，但是在下面的码头里，他的木材场堆满了货，足以供应整个安茹的桶匠业。他知道如果葡萄酒丰产，会需要多少木桶，乃至多少板材。炎热的季节会让他发财，阴雨的季节会让他亏本；仅一个早上，酒桶的价钱可能会从十一法郎跌至六法郎。这个地方和图赖讷一样，天气的变化无常左右着商业的行情。种葡萄的人、有田产的人、木材商、箍桶匠、客栈老板、水手，都盼着出太阳。晚上睡觉时他们忐忑不安，唯恐早上会听说夜里起了霜；他们怕雨、怕风、怕旱，希望雨水、温度和云雾都能符合他们的愿望。在天公和他们这些凡人的利益之间是没完没了的斗争。晴雨表让他们的表情变来变去，他们时而欣慰，时而忧伤，时而快乐。这条街道从前是索米尔大街，从街头到街尾， “金子般的好天气” 这句话会挨家挨户地传；有时每个人都会对他的邻居大声说：

"It rains louis, " knowing well what a sunbeam or the opportune rainfall is bringing him.

“老天下金路易了。” 他们很清楚一缕阳光或者一场及时雨会带来什么样的好处。

On Saturdays after midday, in the fine season, not one sou's worth of merchandise can be bought from these worthy traders. Each has his vineyard, his enclosure of fields, and all spend two days in the country. This being foreseen, and purchases, sales, and profits provided for, the merchants have ten or twelve hours to spend in parties of pleasure, in making observations, in criticisms, and in continual spying. A housewife cannot buy a partridge without the neighbors asking the husband if it were cooked to a turn. A young girl never puts her head near a window that she is not seen by idling groups in the street. Consciences are held in the light; and the houses, dark, silent, impenetrable as they seem, hide no mysteries. Life is almost wholly in the open air; every household sits at its own threshold, breakfasts, dines, and quarrels there. No one can pass along the street without being examined; in fact formerly, when a stranger entered a provincial town he was bantered and made game of from door to door. From this came many good stories, and the nickname copieux, which was applied to the inhabitants of Angers, who excelled in such urban sarcasms.

天气晴朗的季节，到了星期六的午后，就别想从这些优秀的商人手中买到哪怕一个苏的商品。他们每个人都有自己的葡萄园和一片园地，而且全要在乡下呆上两天。这一切都事先算计好了，买进、卖出和利润都已经做了预算，商人们足可以花十或十二个小时欢聚、谈天说地、评头论足、不停地打探别人的隐私。一个主妇买了山鹑，邻居们就会问她丈夫山鹑是否烧到了火候。一个年轻姑娘把头靠近窗户，这绝不会逃过街上闲人的眼睛。道德良知暴露在光天化日之下，就像那些房子，虽然表面阴暗、寂静、无从窥视，却藏不了什么秘密。生活几乎全部在露天下，每家每户都会坐在自家门槛上，在那里吃早饭、吃晚饭，还吵架拌嘴。没有人能从大街上走一遭而不被人评头论足的。实际上，从前每当一个外乡人进了一个外省的城镇，总会到处被人戏耍捉弄。由此便有了许多有趣的故事，而绰号 “丰富的” 就被加到了昂热居民的头上，他们对这种市井的嘲讽挖苦很拿手。

The ancient mansions of the old town of Saumur are at the top of this hilly street, and were formerly occupied by the nobility of the neighborhood. The melancholy dwelling where the events of the following history took place is one of these mansions, —venerable relics of a century in which men and things bore the characteristics of simplicity which French manners and customs are losing day by day. Follow the windings of the picturesque thoroughfare, whose irregularities awaken recollections that plunge the mind mechanically into reverie, and you will see a somewhat dark recess, in the centre of which is hidden the door of the house of Monsieur Grandet. It is impossible to understand the force of this provincial expression—the house of Monsieur Grandet—without giving the biography of Monsieur Grandet himself.

索米尔旧城的古老宅邸都在这条陡街的高处，从前是贵族居住区。以下历史事件就发生在其中一座凄凉的宅子里——可谓珍贵的百年历史遗迹，其中的人和物带有简单纯朴的特点，这正是法兰西的风俗习性日渐失去的东西。沿着这条风景如画的大街蜿蜒而上，其曲折幽回会勾起某些回忆，使人的思绪不由自主地陷入遐想之中，然后你会看到一个有点黑暗的幽深处，中间藏着葛朗台先生府邸的大门。如果不介绍一下葛朗台先生的身世，是不可能明白这个外省词语——葛朗台先生的府邸——有多大的分量。

Monsieur Grandet enjoyed a reputation in Saumur whose causes and effects can never be fully understood by those who have not, at one time or another, lived in the provinces. In 1789Monsieur Grandet—still called by certain persons le Pere Grandet, though the number of such old persons has perceptibly diminished—was a master—cooper, able to read, write, and cipher. At the period when the French Republic offered for sale the church property in the arrondissement of Saumur, the cooper, then forty years of age, had just married the daughter of a rich wood—merchant. Supplied with the ready money of his own fortune and his wife's dot, in all about two thousand louis—d 'or, Grandet went to the newly establisheddistrict, where, with the help of two hundred double louis given by his father—in—law to the surly republican who presided over the sales of the national domain, he obtained for a song, legally if not legitimately, one of the finest vineyards in the arrondissement, an old abbey, and several farms.

葛朗台先生在索米尔颇有名望，那些没有偶尔去外省呆过的人是永远无法完全理解这种名望产生的前因后果。一七八九年，葛朗台先生——还仍然被某些人称作葛朗台老头，尽管这样称呼他的老人的数量已明显减少——是个手艺高明的箍桶匠，能读，能写，还会算。当时正值法兰西共和国在出售索米尔郡的教堂产权，这个箍桶匠当时四十岁，刚刚娶了一位有钱的木材商的女儿。拿着他自己手头的现钱和妻子的陪嫁，总计约两千金路易，葛朗台去了新成立的 “区” ，在那里，靠着把岳父给的四百金路易送给那个凶恶的共和党人——这个人主管着国有地产的出售，葛朗台非常廉价地、虽不合理却合法地得到了郡里最好的葡萄园、一座老修道院和几块农田。

The inhabitants of Saumur were so little revolutionary that they thought Pere Grandet a bold man, a republican, and a patriot with a mind open to all the new ideas; though in point of fact it was open only to vineyards. He was appointed a member of the administration of Saumur, and his pacific influence made itself felt politically and commercially. Politically, he protected the ci—devant nobles, and prevented, to the extent of his power, the sale of the lands and property of theemigres; commercially, he furnished the Republican armies with two or three thousand puncheons of white wine, and took his pay in splendid fields belonging to a community of women whose lands had been reserved for the last lot.

索米尔居民的革命意识很淡薄，所以他们把葛朗台老头看成了一个有胆识的人，一个共和党人和一个乐于接受一切新思想的爱国者，尽管实际上他只关心葡萄园。他被任命为索米尔行政委员，于是当地人在政治上和商业上都感受到了他温和的影响力。政治上，他包庇从前的贵族，竭尽所能阻挠拍卖流亡贵族的土地和财产；商业上，他为共和党军队提供了两三千桶的白葡萄酒，换取了原属于一个女修道院的几块良田，这些地本来是留作最后一批拍卖的。

Under the Consulate Grandet became mayor, governed wisely, and harvested still better pickings. Under the Empire he was called Monsieur Grandet. Napoleon, however, did not like republicans, and superseded Monsieur Grandet (who was supposed to have worn the Phrygian cap) by a man of his own surroundings, a future baron of the Empire. Monsieur Grandet quitted office without regret. He had constructed in the interests of the town certain fine roads which led to his own property; his house and lands, very advantageously assessed, paid moderate taxes; and since the registration of his various estates, the vineyards, thanks to his constant care, had become the "head of the country, " —a local term used to denote those that produced the finest quality of wine. He might have asked for the cross of the Legion of honor.

在执政府时期，葛朗台当了市长，他治理有方，葡萄的收成也更好了。在帝国时期，他被称为葛朗台先生。不过，拿破仑不喜欢共和党，派了一个自己圈子里的人，也是一个帝国未来的男爵将葛朗台先生取而代之（他被认为曾经戴过弗里吉亚软帽）。葛朗台先生失去了职务，却毫不惋惜。为了本城的利益，他修了几条好路，直通自己的地产；他的房子和土地在评估时占了很大便宜，只缴纳了很少的税；自从他各处的庄园登记之后，那些葡萄园在他不断的悉心照料下，已经变成了 “当地的头筹” ——一个当地词，用来指代那些生产上等好酒的葡萄园。他简直可以申请荣誉团的十字勋章了。

This event occurred in 1806. Monsieur Grandet was then fifty—seven years of age, his wife thirty—six, and an only daughter, the fruit of their legitimate love, was ten years old. Monsieur Grandet, whom Providence no doubt desired to compensate for the loss of his municipal honors, inherited three fortunes in the course of this year, —that of Madame de la Gaudiniere, born de la Bertelliere, the mother of Madame Grandet; that of old Monsieur de la Bertelliere, her grandfather; and, lastly, that of Madame Gentillet, her grandmother on the mother's side: three inheritances, whose amount was not known to any one.

这一事件发生在一八零六年。葛朗台先生当时五十七岁，他的妻子三十六岁，他们十岁的独生女儿是他们合法爱情的结晶。上天无疑是希望补偿葛朗台先生丢官的损失，这一年他继承了三笔遗产：有葛朗台太太的母亲，生于德拉贝尔特利耶家的德拉戈迪尼埃夫人的遗产；有葛朗台太太的外公，老德拉贝尔特利耶先生的遗产；最后是葛朗台太太的外婆，让蒂耶夫人的遗产。这三笔遗产的数目无人知晓。

The avarice of the deceased persons was so keen that for a long time they had hoarded their money for the pleasure of secretly looking at it. Old Monsieur de la Bertelliere called an investment an extravagance, and thought he got better interest from the sight of his gold than from the profits of usury. The inhabitants of Saumur consequently estimated his savings according to "the revenues of the sun's wealth, " as they said.

这几位仙逝者都贪婪成性，很长时间他们存钱的目的就是为了私下里偷偷看着高兴。老德拉贝尔特利耶先生把投资叫做挥霍，认为看见他的金子所得到的好处比高利贷的利润还要多。索米尔的居民们因而根据 “太阳照得见的财产收入” ——照他们的说法——估算了他的积蓄。

Monsieur Grandet thus obtained that modern title of nobility which our mania for equality can never rub out. He became the most imposing personage in the arrondissement. He worked a hundred acres of vineyard, which in fruitful years yielded seven or eight hundred hogsheads of wine. He owned thirteen farms, an old abbey, whose windows and arches he had walled up for the sake of economy, —a measure which preserved them, —also a hundred and twenty—seven acres of meadow—land, where three thousand poplars, planted in 1793, grew and flourished; and finally, the house in which he lived. Such was his visible estate; as to his other property, only two persons could give even a vague guess at its value: one was Monsieur Cruchot, a notary employed in the usurious investments of Monsieur Grandet; the other was Monsieur des Grassins, the richest banker in Saumur, in whose profits Grandet had a certain covenanted and secret share.

葛朗台先生于是获得了那个时髦的贵族头衔，这是我们热衷平等的狂热分子永远也消灭不了的东西。他成了本郡最显赫的人物。他经营着一百英亩的葡萄园，在收成好的年份，可以产七八百桶葡萄酒。他拥有十三个农场、一座老修道院，为了节约，他把修道院的窗户和拱门都用墙堵死了，这是保护这些东西的一个方法。他还有一百二十七英亩草场，那里有一七九三年种下的三千棵杨树，长得枝繁叶茂。最后，就是他住的那所宅子了。这是他的可见财产，至于他的其他资产，只有两个人能模模糊糊估算出价值来：一位是克吕绍先生，受雇为葛朗台先生管理高利贷投资的公证人；另一位是德格拉桑先生，索米尔最富有的银行家，葛朗台在其利润中立约秘密持有一份。

Although old Cruchot and Monsieur des Grassins were both gifted with the deep discretion which wealth and trust beget in the provinces, they publicly testified so much respect to Monsieur Grandet that observers estimated the amount of his property by the obsequious attention which they bestowed upon him. In all Saumur there was no one not persuaded that Monsieur Grandet had a private treasure, some hiding—place full of louis, where he nightly took ineffable delight in gazing upon great masses of gold. Avaricious people gathered proof of this when they looked at the eyes of the good man, to which the yellow metal seemed to have conveyed its tints. The glance of a man accustomed to draw enormous interest from his capital acquires, like that of the libertine, the gambler, or the sycophant, certain indefinable habits, —furtive, eager, mysterious movements, which never escape the notice of his co—religionists. This secret language is in a certain way the freemasonry of the passions. Monsieur Grandet inspired the respectful esteem due to one who owed no man anything, who, skilful cooper and experienced wine—grower that he was, guessed with the precision of an astronomer whether he ought to manufacture a thousand puncheons for his vintage, or only five hundred, who never failed in any speculation, and always had casks for sale when casks were worth more than the commodity that filled them, who could store his whole vintage in his cellars and bide his time to put the puncheons on the market at two hundred francs, when the little proprietors had been forced to sell theirs for five louis.

尽管老克吕绍和德格拉桑先生二人素来都非常谨慎，这在外省是谋求财富和信任的保证，由于他们在公开场合对葛朗台先生表现得非常尊敬，旁观者免不了会以他们这种毕恭毕敬的态度来推测葛朗台的资产数目。在整个索米尔，所有人都相信葛朗台先生有个秘密宝库，一个藏满了金路易的密室，晚上他会在密室里瞧着大堆的金子，那高兴劲儿真是难以形容。贪婪的人们都认为此事证据确凿，因为他们看到这个老头的眼睛里似乎都闪着黄色金属的色彩。一个习惯于从资本中赚取巨额利润的人，其目光就像浪荡子、赌徒或阿谀奉承者一样，有着某些难以名状的习惯——鬼鬼祟祟、贪婪、行色神秘，这一切从来都逃不过同道人的眼睛。这种暗语在某种程度上就是贪欲者之间的默契。葛朗台先生受人尊重，因为他从不欠债，既是技艺精湛的箍桶匠，又是经验丰富的葡萄园主，他可以像天文学家一样精确地推算出是该做上一千只桶来装他的葡萄酒，还是只要五百只桶；他做投机生意从来没有失过手，在酒桶比里面装的酒还贵时，他总有酒桶出售，他会把全部的酒囤储到自己的酒窖里，等待良机，直至每桶市价两百法郎才出手，而小业主们却早已被迫每桶五个路易就抛售掉了。

His famous vintage of 1811, judiciously stored and slowly disposed of, brought him in more than two hundred and forty thousand francs.

一八一一年他做了笔有名的葡萄酒买卖，他先明智地囤积了酒，再慢慢地出手，赚了二十四万多法郎。

Financially speaking, Monsieur Grandet was something between a tiger and a boa constrictor. He could crouch and lie low, watch his prey a long while, spring upon it, open his jaws, swallow a mass of louis, and then rest tranquilly like a snake in process of digestion, impassible, methodical, and cold. No one saw him pass without a feeling of admiration mingled with respect and fear; had not every man in Saumur felt the rending of those polished steel claws? For this one, Maitre Cruchot had procured the money required for the purchase of a domain, but at eleven per cent. For that one, Monsieur des Grassins discounted bills of exchange, but at a frightful deduction of interest. Few days ever passed that Monsieur Grandet's name was not mentioned either in the markets or in social conversations at the evening gatherings. To some the fortune of the old wine—grower was an object of patriotic pride. More than one merchant, more than one innkeeper, said to strangers with a certain complacency: