The Temptation of a Respectable Woman一个正派女人受到的诱惑.docx

The Temptation of a Respectable Woman一个正派女人受到的诱惑The Temptation of a Respectable Woman (The Temptation of a Respectable Woman) Mrs.Baroda was a little annoyed to learn that her husband expected his friend, Gouvernail, up to spend a week or two on the plantation. Gouvernail's quiet personality puzzled Mrs.Baroda. After a few days with him, she could understand him no better than at first. She left her husband and his guest, for the most part, alone together, only to find that Gouvernail hardly noticed her absence. Then she imposed her company upon him, accompanying him in his idle walks to the mill to press her attempt to penetrate the silence in which he had unconsciously covered himself. But it hardly worked. "When is he going your friend?" she one day asked her husband. "For my part, I find him a terrible nuisance." "Not for a week yet, dear. I can't understand; he gives you no trouble." "No. I should like him better if he did if he were more like others, and I had to plan somewhat for his comfort and enjoyment." Gaston pulled the sleeve of his wife's dress, gathered his arms around her waist and looked merrily into her troubled eyes. "You are full of surprises," he said to her. "Even I can never count upon how you are going to act under given conditions. Here you are," he went on, "taking poor Gouvernail seriously and making a fuss about him, the last thing he would desire or expect." "Fuss!" she hotly replied. "Nonsense! How can you say such a thing! Fuss, indeed! But, you know, you said he was clever." "So he is. But the poor fellow is run down by too much work now. That's why I asked him here to take a rest." "You used to say he was a man of wit," she said, still annoyed. "I expected him to be interesting, at least. I'm going to the city in the morning to have my spring dresses fitted. Let me know when Mr.Gouvernail is gone; until that time I shall be at my aunt's house." That night she went and sat alone upon a bench that stood beneath an oak tree at the edge of the walk. She had never known her thoughts to be so confused; like the bats now above her, her thoughts quickly flew this way and that. She could gather nothing from them but the feeling of a distinct necessity to leave her home in the next morning. Mrs.Baroda heard footsteps coming from the direction of the barn; she knew it was Gouvernail. She hoped to remain unnoticed, but her white gown revealed her to him. He seated himself upon the bench beside her, without a suspicion that she might object to his presence. "Your husband told me to bring this to you, Mrs.Baroda," he said, handing her a length of sheer white fabric with which she sometimes covered her head and shoulders. She accepted it from him and let it lie in her lap. He made some routine observations upon the unhealthy effect of the night breeze at that season. Then as his gaze reached out into the darkness, he began to talk. Gouvernail was in no sense a shy man. His periods of silence were not his basic nature, but the result of moods. When he was sitting there beside Mrs.Baroda, his silence melted for the time. He talked freely and intimately in a low, hesitating voice that was not unpleasant to hear. He talked of the old college days when he and Gaston had been best friends, of the days of keen ambitions and large intentions. Now, all there was left with him was a desire to be permitted to exist, with now and then a little breath of genuine life, such as he was breathing now. Her mind only vaguely grasped what he was saying. His words became a meaningless succession of verbs, nouns, adverbs, and adjectives; she only drank in the tones of his voice. She wanted to reach out her hand in the darkness and touch him which she might have done if she had not been a respectable woman. The stronger the desire grew to bring herself near him, the further, in fact, did she move away from him. As soon as she could do so without an appearance of being rude, she pretended to yawn, rose, and left him there alone. Mrs.Baroda was greatly tempted that night to tell her husband who was also her friend of this foolishness that had seized her. But she did not yield to the temptation. Besides being an upright and respectable woman she was also a very sensible one. When Gaston arose the next morning, his wife had already departed, without even saying farewell. A porter had carried her trunk to the station and she had taken an early morning train to the city. She did not return until Gouvernail was gone from under her roof. There was some talk of having him back during the summer that followed. That is, Gaston greatly desired it; but this desire yielded to his honorable wife's vigorous opposition. However, before the year ended, she proposed, wholly from herself, to have Gouvernail visit them again. Her husband was surprised and delighted with the suggestion coming from her. "I am glad, my dear, to know that you have finally overcome your dislike for him; truly he did not deserve it." "Oh," she told him, laughingly, after pressing a long, tender kiss upon his lips, "I have overcome everything! You will see. This time I shall be very nice to him." 一个正派女人受到的诱惑 得知丈夫请了他的朋友古韦内尔来种植园小住一两周，巴罗达太太有点不快。 古韦内尔生性沉默，这令巴罗达太太颇为不解。 在一起待了几天，她仍感到对他很陌生。 她只得大部分时间让丈夫陪着客人, 但发现自己不在场几乎并未引起古韦内尔的注意。 而后她执意要陪他散步到磨坊去, 试图打破他这种并非有意的沉默， 但仍不奏效。 "你的朋友，他什么时候走？" 有一天她问丈夫，"我觉得他太讨厌了。" "还不到一周呢，亲爱的。 我真不明白，他并没给你添麻烦呀。" "是没有。他要是真能添点麻烦，我倒喜欢他一些了。真希望他能像别人一样，那样我倒可以做点什么使他过得舒心。" 加斯顿拉了拉妻子的衣袖，双手搂着她的腰，快乐地望着她那充满困惑的眼睛。 "你可真让人吃惊，" 他说，"我都说不准你什么时候会怎么做。 瞧你对古韦内尔顶真的样子，对他那么大惊小怪，这可是他最不希望的。" "大惊小怪！" 她急急回道，"瞎说，你怎么这么说！ 大惊小怪，真是！但你可说过他挺聪明的。" "他是聪明。但工作太多，这可怜的家伙累垮了， 所以我才请他来这儿休息一阵。" "你常说他是个风趣的人，"太太仍在生气，"我以为他至少该风趣点。 明早我进城去试春装。 古韦内尔走了你告诉我。他走之前我就住姑妈家。" 那晚她独自一人坐在路边橡树下的长凳上， 思绪从未这么乱过，就像头顶飞着的蝙蝠一样，忽东忽西。 她理不出丝毫头绪，只感到有一点很明确：她必须第二天一早就离开这里。 巴罗达太太听到从谷仓那边传来了脚步声，她知道那是古韦内尔。 她不想让他看见自己，但她的白色长袍泄露了踪迹。 他在她身旁的长凳上坐下，丝毫不曾想到她可能会反对他坐在那儿。 "您丈夫要我把这个带给您，巴罗达太太，"说着，他递上一块白色纱巾，这是她有时用来做披肩的。 她接了过来，放在腿上。 他照例说了些诸如这个季节的夜风对身体不好之类的话。 后来，望着茫茫夜色，他开始谈了起来。 古韦内尔可不是个腼腆的人。 他的沉默寡言决非天性，而是情绪使然。 坐在巴罗达太太身边，他的沉默暂时消失了。 他以低沉迟缓的嗓音亲切而无拘束地娓娓而谈， 谈他在大学里与加斯顿是好朋友，谈那时曾雄心勃勃，志向高远。 而现在他只求能生存，只是偶尔才体验到一丝真正的生活的气息，就像此刻。 巴罗达太太只是模模糊糊地感到他在说些什么。 他的话变成了一串毫无意义的动词、名词、副词和形容词；她陶醉在他的声音里。 她想在夜色里伸出手去触摸他-要不是个正派女子，她真会这么做。 她越想靠近他，结果却越往后退。 为使自己不显得失礼，她借机假装打了个哈欠，起身离开了他。 那晚，巴罗达太太很想把自己的一时荒唐告诉丈夫-也是她的朋友，但还是忍住了。 她是个正派体面的女人，也是个非常明智的女人。 第二天早晨加斯顿起床时，妻子已经走了，也没有跟他道别。 脚夫把她的箱子送到火车站，她搭早班车进的城。 直到古韦内尔离开后她才回去。 那年夏天，他们有时会谈到再请古韦内尔来种植园一事。 也就是说，加斯顿很希望这样，但经不住他那品行高洁的妻子的强烈反对。 然而，快到年底时，妻子主动提出邀请古韦内尔再来。 听到妻子的建议，丈夫真是又惊又喜。 "我真高兴，亲爱的，你终于不再讨厌他了。说真的，他不应该使你觉得讨厌。" "噢，"她笑着，在他唇上印了长长的温柔的一吻，"我一切都已经克服了！这次我会对他很好。 你会看到的，