A Parricide弑亲

The lawyer had presented a plea of insanity. How could anyone explain this strange crime otherwise?

那个律师辩护的理由是精神错乱。可是谁还能用其他的方法来解释这奇怪的命案呢？

One morning, in the grass near Chatou, two bodies had been found, a man and a woman, well known, rich, no longer young and married since the preceding year, the woman having been a widow for three years before.

一天早上，在沙都附近的草地上，发现了一男一女两具尸体。他们很有名望，也很富有。两个人都不再年轻，但却是去年才结的婚。三年前，这个女人还是个寡妇。

They were not known to have enemies; they had not been robbed. They seemed to have been thrown from the roadside into the river, after having been struck, one after the other, with a long iron spike.

大家不知道他们有什么仇人，而且在他们身上也没有被抢劫的痕迹。似乎是有人用长铁钉相继打了他们，然后把他们从岸上扔到了河里。

The investigation revealed nothing. The boatmen, who had been questioned, knew nothing. The matter was about to be given up, when a young carpenter from a neighboring village, Georges Louis, nicknamed the Bourgeois, "gave himself up.

调查没有什么结果。那些被传讯的船夫什么都不知道。在案子即将被搁下的时候，忽然邻村有一个叫乔治斯·路易斯、外号叫 “资本家” 的年轻木匠来投案自首。

To all questions he only answered this:

对于所有的问题，他只是回答说：

"I had known the man for two years, the woman for six months. They often had me repair old furniture for them, because I am a clever workman. "

“我认识那个男人两年，认识那个女人六个月。他们常常让我给他们修旧家具，因为我是个手艺不错的工匠。”

And when he was asked:

当有人问他：

"Why did you kill them? "

“你为什么杀了他们？”

He would obstinately answer: "I killed them because I wanted to kill them. "

他固执地回答说： “因为我想杀他们，所以就杀了。”

They could get nothing more out of him.

他们从他身上再也得不到更多的信息。

This man was undoubtedly an illegitimate child, put out to nurse and then abandoned. He had no other name than Georges Louis, but as on growing up he became particularly intelligent, with the good taste and native refinement which his acquaintances did not have, he was nicknamed "the Bourgeois, " and he was never called otherwise. He had become remarkably clever in the trade of a carpenter, which he had taken up. He was also said to be a socialist fanatic, a believer in communistic and nihilistic doctrines, a great reader of bloodthirsty novels, an influential political agitator and a clever orator in the public meetings of workmen or of farmers.

毋庸置疑，这个年轻人是个私生子，先前被放在一个奶妈家抚养，之后又被遗弃。除了乔治斯·路易斯之外，他没有别的称呼，但是随着年龄的增长，他变得异常聪明，而且他品味高雅，天生文雅，这在他的熟人中并不多见，所以他有了 “资本家” 这个绰号。人们再也没有用其他的名字称呼他了。他做了一名木匠。在那个行业，他聪明机灵，引人注目。还有人说他是社会主义狂热者，他热心于共产主义和无政府主义；他大量阅读凶残的小说；在工人或农民的公开集会里，他是一位有影响力的政治煽动者和聪明的演说家。

His lawyer had pleaded insanity.

他的律师以精神错乱为由为他辩护。

Indeed, how could one imagine that this workman should kill his best customers, rich and generous (as he knew), who in two years had enabled him to earn three thousand francs (his books showed it)? Only one explanation could be offered: insanity, the fixed idea of the unclassed individual who reeks vengeance on two bourgeois, on all the bourgeoisie, and the lawyer made a clever allusion to this nickname of "The Bourgeois, " given throughout the neighborhood to this poor wretch.

事实上，我们如何想象这个工匠会杀掉他最大的主顾呢？这个主顾富有而大方（他一向都知道），在两年之内让他赚了三千法郎（从他的记录上可以看出）。只有一个解释行得通：精神错乱，没有阶级地位的人想法固执，对两位有钱人进行报复，对一切中产阶级进行报复。邻居给这个可怜的人取了 “资本家” 的绰号，而律师则为这个绰号找到了一个巧妙的含义。

He exclaimed: "Is this irony not enough to unbalance the mind of this poor wretch, who has neither father nor mother? He is an ardent republican. What am I saying? He even belongs to the same political party, the members of which, formerly shot or exiled by the government, it now welcomes with open arms this party to which arson is a principle and murder an ordinary occurrence.

他高声说道： “难道这个嘲讽还不足以使这个无父无母的可怜人精神错乱吗？” 他是一个狂热的共和主义者。我该怎么说呢？他甚至属于原为法兰西共和国所杀所逐、而现为法兰西共和国张臂欢迎的那个政党。此政党以放火为原则，把谋杀当常事。

"These gloomy doctrines, now applauded in public meetings, have ruined this man. He has heard republicans—even women, yes, women—ask for the blood of M. Gambetta, the blood of M. Grevy; his weakened mind gave way; he wanted blood, the blood of a bourgeois!

“这些如今在公开集会上很受欢迎的令人沮丧的学说，害了这个男人。他听见过一些共产主义者——甚至一些妇女，是的，一些妇女——要让甘必大先生流血，要让格雷维先生流血；他削弱的意志失去了控制，他想要血，要所有的资产阶级流血！”

"It is not he whom you should condemn, gentlemen; it is the Commune! "

“先生们，你们应当谴责的不是他，而是巴黎公社！”

Everywhere could be heard murmurs of assent. Everyone felt that the lawyer had won his case. The prosecuting attorney did not oppose him.

全场到处都听到一阵阵低声赞许的声音。每个人都觉得这个律师已经胜诉了。那个检察官也没有反对他。

Then the presiding judge asked the accused the customary question:

然后法官向被告提出了通常要问的问题：

"Prisoner, is there anything that you wish to add to your defense? "

“被告，对于你的辩护还有什么要说的吗？”

The man stood up. He was a short, flaxen blond, with calm, clear, gray eyes. A strong, frank, sonorous voice came from this frail—looking boy and, at the first words, quickly changed the opinion which had been formed of him.

这个男人站了起来。他身材矮小，头发是淡金黄色的，灰色的眼睛里透着清晰和平静。这个看似柔弱的青年发出了有力、爽朗而嘹亮的声音，从头几个字开始就瞬间改变了大家之前对他的看法。

He spoke loud in a declamatory manner, but so distinctly that every word could be understood in the farthest corners of the big hall: "Your honor, as I do not wish to go to an insane asylum, and as I even prefer death to that, I will tell everything.

他慷慨激昂地大声说话，不过说得异常清楚，即使在法庭大厅最远的角落里的人，都能听得清清楚楚： “尊敬的法官，因为我不愿到疯人院去，也因为我宁愿去死也不愿意去那里，我将告诉你们一切。”

"I killed this man and this woman because they were my parents.

“我杀了这个男人和这个女人，因为他们是我的父母。”

"Now, listen, and judge me.

“现在，先听我说，然后审判我。”

"A woman, having given birth to a boy, sent him out, somewhere, to a nurse. Did she even know where her accomplice carried this innocent little being, condemned to eternal misery, to the shame of an illegitimate birth; to more than that—to death, since he was abandoned and the nurse, no longer receiving the monthly pension, might, as they often do, let him die of hunger and neglect!

“一个女人，生了一个男孩之后，就把他送到别的地方让奶妈抚养。她可知道她的同谋把这个无辜的小生命送到哪里了吗，他终生都被惩罚处于痛苦之中，受尽作为私生子的屈辱，更糟糕的是——死亡，因为他是弃儿，而奶妈收不到月费，便会像她们常常做的那样，任其因挨饿和无人照料而死去！”

"The woman who nursed me was honest, better, more noble, more of a mother than my own mother. She brought me up. She did wrong in doing her duty. It is more humane to let them die, these little wretches who are cast away in suburban villages just as garbage is thrown away.

“那个给我喂奶的妇人，是个诚实的人，她比我母亲贤良高尚，比我的母亲更像一个母亲。她把我抚养成人。她做错了她应该做的事情。这些可怜的小虫像被丢掉的垃圾一样被人扔在附近的村子里，让他们自行灭亡才是人道的。”

"I grew up with the indistinct impression that I was carrying some burden of shame. One day the other children called me. They did not know the meaning of this word, which one of them had heard at home. I was also ignorant of its meaning, but I felt the sting all the same.

我带着一种隐约的屈辱感长大。一天，其他的孩子叫我 “狗———” 。他们并不知道这个词的意思，但是他们中间有人在家里听到过这个词。其实我也不知道它是什么意思，但总觉得很丢人。

"I was, I may say, one of the cleverest boys in the school. I would have been a good man, your honor, perhaps a man of superior intellect, if my parents had not committed the crime of abandoning me.

“我敢说，我是学校里最聪明的学生之一。法官大人，如果我的父母没有遗弃我，我本该是一个好人，也许会是一个智慧超群的人。”

"This crime was committed against me. I was the victim, they were the guilty ones. I was defenseless, they were pitiless. Their duty was to love me, they rejected me.

“这是他们对我犯下的罪行。我是受害者，他们是罪犯。我没有防卫能力，他们没有怜悯之心。他们本应该爱我的，可是他们却遗弃了我。”

"I owed them life—but is life a boon? To me, at any rate, it was a misfortune. After their shameful desertion, I owed them only vengeance. They committed against me the most inhuman, the most infamous, the most monstrous crime which can be committed against a human creature.

“他们给了我生命———但生命是一种恩惠吗？不管怎样，对我来说，它都是一种不幸。他们不道德地遗弃了我，我对于他们只有报复。他们对我犯下的罪行，是能对一个人犯下的最不人道、最无耻、最恐怖的罪行。”

"A man who has been insulted, strikes; a man who has been robbed, takes back his own by force. A man who has been deceived, played upon, tortured, kills; a man who has been slapped, kills; a man who has been dishonored, kills. I have been robbed, deceived, tortured, morally slapped, dishonored, all this to a greater degree than those whose anger you excuse.

“一个被侮辱的人，会反击；一个被抢劫的人，会通过武力夺回自己的东西。一个被欺骗、被利用、被折磨的人，会杀人；一个被打耳光的人，会杀人；一个被侮辱的人，会杀人。而我，被抢劫、欺骗、折磨，精神上伤害、被侮辱得比你们所原谅的那些充满怒火的人更严重。”

"I revenged myself, I killed. It was my legitimate right. I took their happy life in exchange for the terrible one which they had forced on me.

“我自己报了仇，我杀了人。我这是正当防卫。我把他们快乐的生活与他们强加给我的可怕的生活做了交换。”

"You will call me parricide! Were these people my parents, for whom I was an abominable burden, a terror, an infamous shame; for whom my birth was a calamity and my life a threat of disgrace? They sought a selfish pleasure; they got an unexpected child. They suppressed the child. My turn came to do the same for them.

“你会说我是杀父母的人！这些人是我的父母吗？对他们来说，我是讨厌的负担、可怕的人、难听的羞耻；对他们来说，我的出生就是一种灾难，我的生命就是会产生羞耻的威胁。他们寻找自私的快乐，却意外地得到了一个孩子。他们扼杀了这个孩子。现在轮到我以其人之道还置其人之身了。”

"And yet, up to quite recently, I was ready to love them.

“然而，直到最近，我还准备爱他们的。”

"As I have said, this man, my father, came to me for the first time two years ago. I suspected nothing. He ordered two pieces of furniture. I found out, later on, that, under the seal of secrecy, naturally, he had sought information from the priest.

“就像我说的，这个男人，也就是我的父亲，两年前第一次来到我家。我一点都没有怀疑。他预订了两件家具。后来，我才知道，他在保证守住秘密的条件下，很自然地从神父那里得到了信息。”

"He returned often. He gave me a lot of work and paid me well. Sometimes he would even talk to me of one thing or another. I felt a growing affection for him.

“他后来经常来。他让我做了很多的活，也给了我很高的工钱。有时候他甚至和我谈些别的事情。我觉得我对他的感情在加深。”

"At the beginning of this year he brought with him his wife, my mother. When she entered she was trembling so that I thought her to be suffering from some nervous disease. Then she asked for a seat and a glass of water. She said nothing; she looked around abstractedly at my work and only answered yes and no, at random, to all the questions which he asked her. When she had left I thought her a little unbalanced.

“今年年初，他把他的妻子，也就是我的母亲，也带过来了。当她来到我家时，她抖得很厉害，我以为她患有神经上的疾病。然后她要了一把椅子和一杯水。她什么都没有说，只是茫然地环顾我工作的环境，仅仅用 ‘是’ 和 ‘不是’ 随便地回答他的问题。她走之后，我认为她有点精神错乱。”

"The following month they returned. She was calm, self—controlled. That day they chattered for a long time, and they left me a rather large order. I saw her three more times, without suspecting anything. But one day she began to talk to me of my life, of my childhood, of my parents. I answered: Madame, my parents were wretches who deserted me. Then she clutched at her heart and fell, unconscious. I immediately thought: She is my mother! but I took care not to let her notice anything. I wished to observe her.

“第二个月他们又来了，她很平静，也有自控能力。那一天他们和我谈了很久，最后他们走的时候给了我一笔很大的单子。我见她不止三次，但是丝毫没有起疑心。但是，有一天，她突然和我谈论起我的生活、我的童年和我的父母。我回答她： ‘夫人，我的父母都是卑鄙的人，他们遗弃了我。’ 然后她抓住自己的心口，倒在地上不省人事了。我当时立刻就想到： ‘她就是我的母亲！’ 但是我小心翼翼，不让她看出任何问题。我想观察她。”

"I in turn, sought out information about them. I learned that they had been married since last July, my mother having been a widow for only three years. There had been rumors that they had loved each other during the lifetime of the first husband, but there was no proof of it. I was the proof—the proof which they had at first hidden and then hoped to destroy.

“反过来，我也找出一些关于他们的消息。我听说他们去年七月结的婚，我的母亲仅仅守了三年的寡。有流言说他们在我母亲第一个丈夫活着的时候就已经相爱了，但是没有证据。我就是证据——他们一开始想要隐藏这个证据，然后希望毁灭这个证据。”

"I waited. She returned one evening, escorted as usual by my father. That day she seemed deeply moved, I dont know why. Then, as she was leaving, she said to me: I wish you success, because you seem to me to be honest and a hard worker; some day you will undoubtedly think of getting married. I have come to help you to choose freely the woman who may suit you. I was married against my inclination once and I know what suffering it causes. Now I am rich, childless, free, mistress of my fortune. Here is your dowry. "

“我等着。有天晚上她又来了，像平常一样由我父亲陪伴着。那天，她看起来非常动情，但是我不知道为什么。然后，当她走的时候，她对我说： ‘我希望你成功，因为在我看来你是一个诚实勤快的工匠，总有一天你肯定会考虑娶妻的。我会帮助你自由地选择适合你的女人。我曾经违背我的意愿去结婚，我知道那种婚姻带来的痛苦。现在我生活富裕，没有孩子，没有负担，可以自由支配我的财产。这是给你娶妻用的钱。”

"She held out to me a large, sealed envelope.

“她递给我一个封好的大信封。”

"I looked her straight in the eyes and then said: Are you my mother? "

“我盯着她的眼睛，然后问她： ‘你是我的母亲吗?”

"She drew back a few steps and hid her face in her hands so as not to see me. He, the man, my father, supported her in his arms and cried out to me: You must be crazy! "

“她后退了几步，由于不想看见我而用手挡着脸。然后，那个男人，也就是我的父亲，用双手扶着她，对我大声喊道： ‘你一定是疯了！”

"I answered: Not in the least. I know that you are my parents. I cannot be thus deceived. Admit it and I will keep the secret; I will bear you no ill will; I will remain what I am, a carpenter. "

“我回答道： ‘一点也没有。我知道你们是我的父母。你们瞒不了我的。你们承认吧，我会保守秘密的，我不会对你们心怀恶意。我仍旧和以前一样，只是一个小木匠。”

"He retreated towards the door, still supporting his wife who was beginning to sob. Quickly I locked the door, put the key in my pocket and continued: Look at her and dare to deny that she is my mother. "

“他一直搀扶着已经开始哭泣的妻子，朝门口退去。我很快把门锁上，然后把钥匙放在我的口袋里，继续说： ‘你看看她，你敢否认她是我的母亲吗。”

"Then he flew into a passion, very pale, terrified at the thought that the scandal, which had so far been avoided, might suddenly break out; that their position, their good name, their honor might all at once be lost. He stammered out: You are a rascal, you wish to get money from us! Thats the thanks we get for trying to help such common people! "

“于是他勃然大怒，脸色惨白，害怕这个隐藏了这么久的丑闻可能会突然公诸于世，他们的地位、好名声和荣誉也会随之立马消失。他结巴地说： ‘你就是个无赖，想骗我们的钱！这就是我们想帮助这种穷人而得到的感谢！”

"My mother, bewildered, kept repeating: Lets get out of here, lets get out! "

“我的母亲不知所措，一直在重复： ‘我们离开这个地方吧，我们离开吧！”

"Then, when he found the door locked, he exclaimed: If you do not open this door immediately, I will have you thrown into prison for blackmail and assault! "

“然后，当他发现门是锁着的时候，他呼喊道： ‘如果你不马上打开门，我就以勒索和伤害罪把你送进监狱！”

"I had remained calm; I opened the door and saw them disappear in the darkness.

“我仍旧很平静；我打开门，看着他们消失在黑暗中。”

"Then I seemed to have been suddenly orphaned, deserted, pushed to the wall. I was seized with an overwhelming sadness, mingled with anger, hatred, disgust; my whole being seemed to rise up in revolt against the injustice, the meanness, the dishonor, the rejected love. I began to run, in order to overtake them along the Seine, which they had to follow in order to reach the station of Chaton.

“然后，我觉得自己突然变成了一个孤儿，被人遗弃，被逼得走投无路。我被悲伤淹没了，掺杂着气愤、憎恨和厌恶；我的整个生命都要反抗这不公平、卑鄙、耻辱和不被接纳的爱。为了在塞纳河边赶上他们，我开始跑。那条路是他们到沙都车站的必经之路。”

"I soon caught up with them. It was now pitch dark. I was creeping up behind them softly, that they might not hear me. My mother was still crying. My father was saying: Its all your own fault. Why did you wish to see him? It was absurd in our position. We could have helped him from afar, without showing ourselves. Of what use are these dangerous visits, since we cant recognize him? "

“我很快就赶上了他们。当时已经一片漆黑。我偷偷地跟在他们后面，轻手轻脚地，不让他们察觉到。我的母亲还在哭泣。我的父亲当时正说： ‘都是你的错。你为什么要见他？以我们现在的身份，这么做很荒谬。我们可以远远地帮助他，不用露面。既然我们不能认他，这么危险地见他又有什么用呢？”

"Then I rushed up to them, beseeching. I cried: You see! You are my parents. You have already rejected me once; would you repulse me again?

于是我跑到他们面前去哀求。我哭着说： “ ‘看啊！你们就是我的父母。从前你们已经抛弃了我，现在要再拒绝我一次吗？”

"Then, your honor, he struck me. I swear it on my honor, before the law and my country. He struck me, and as I seized him by the collar, he drew from his pocket a revolver.

“然后，尊敬的法官，他就打了我。我在法律和我的国家面前，以我的荣誉发誓。他打了我，然后在我抓住他的衣领的时候，他从口袋里掏出了一把枪。”

"The blood rushed to my head, I no longer knew what I was doing, I had my compass in my pocket; I struck him with it as often as I could.

“我被血冲昏了头脑，我不知道我在做什么，我拿出随身带的圆规，不停地打他。”

"Then she began to cry: Help! murder! and to pull my beard. It seems that I killed her also. How do I know what I did then?

“然后她开始喊： ‘救命！杀人啦！’ 然后她揪我的胡子，好像我把她也杀了。我怎么知道我当时做了什么？”

"Then, when I saw them both lying on the ground, without thinking, I threw them into the Seine.

“然后，我看到他们都躺在地上，便不假思索地把他们丢到塞纳河里了。”

Thats all. Now sentence me.

“就是这些。现在判我刑吧。”

The prisoner sat down. After this revelation the case was carried over to the following session. It comes up very soon. If we were jurymen, what would we do with this parricide?

那个罪犯坐下了。在他供出事情的真相之后，这个案子就被留到下次开庭审理了。第二次开庭很快就到了。如果我们是陪审人员，我们应该怎么处理这个杀父母的人呢？