讀點好英文:Letter from an Unknown Woman 一個陌生女人的來信

Letter from an Unknown Woman 一個陌生女人的來信

[奧地利]斯蒂芬·茨威格（Stefan Zweig）

《一個陌生女人的來信》是一個對愛情忠貞不貳的癡情少女的絕筆。一個13歲的少女喜歡上了她的鄰居——一個青年作家，而她由于母親的再婚不得不離開這里。五年后她重返維也納，每天到他窗下等候，一心只想委身于他。直到他倆的愛情結(jié)晶得病夭折，她自己也身患重病即將辭世，才寫下這封沒有具名的長信。

You took me in your arms. Again I stayed with you for the whole of one glorious night.But even then you did not recognise me.While I thrilled to your caresses, it was plain to me that your passion knew no difference between a loving mistress and a meretrix, that your spendthrift affections were wholly concentrated in their own expression.To me, the stranger picked up at a dancing-hall, you were at once affectionate and courteous.You would not treat me lightly, and yet you were full of an enthralling ardour.Dizzy with the old happiness, I was again aware of the two-sidedness of your nature, of that strange mingling of intellectual passion with sensual, which had already enslaved me to you in my childhood.In no other man have I ever known such complete surrender to the sweetness of the moment.No other has for the time being given himself so utterly as did you who, when the hour was past, were to relapse into an interminable and almost inhuman forgetfulness.But I, too, forgot myself.Who was I, lying in the darkness beside you?Was I the impassioned child of former days;was I the mother of your son;was I a stranger?Everything in this wonderful night was at one and the same time entrancingly familiar and entrancingly new.I prayed that the joy might last forever.

But morning came. It was late when we rose, and you asked me to stay to breakfast.Over the tea, which an unseen hand had discreetly served in the dining-room, we talked quietly.As of old, you displayed a cordial frankness;and, as of old, there were no tactless questions, there was no curiosity about myself.You did not ask my name, nor where I lived.To you I was, as before, a casual adventure, a nameless woman, an ardent hour which leaves no trace when it is over.You told me that you were about to start on a long journey, that you were going to spend two or three months in Northern Africa.The words broke in upon my happiness like a knell:“Past, past, past and forgotte n!”I longed to throw myself at your feet, crying,“Take me with you, that you may at length came to know me, at length after all these year s!”But I was timid, cowardly, slavish, weak.All I could say was,“What a pity.”You looked at me with a smile,“Are you really sorry?”

For a moment I was as if frenzied. I stood up and looked at you fixedly.Then I said,“The man I love has always gone on a journey.”I looked you straight in the eyes.“Now, now,”I thought,“now he will recognise m e!”You only smiled, and said consolingly,“One comes back after a time.”I answered,“Yes, one comes back, but one has forgotten by then.”

I must have spoken with strong feeling, for my tone moved you. You, too, rose, and looked at me wonderingly and tenderly.You put your hands on my shoulders,“Good things are not forgotten, and I shall not forget you.”Your eyes studied me attentively, as if you wished to form an enduring image of me in your mind.When I felt this penetrating glance, this exploration of my whole being, I could not but fancy that the spell of your blindness would at last be broken.“He will recognise m e!He will recognise m e!”My soul trembled with expectation.

But you did not recognise me. No, you did not recognise me.Never had I been more of a stranger to you than I was at that moment, for had it been otherwise you could not possibly have done what you did a few minutes later.You had kissed me again, had kissed me passionately.My hair had been ruffled, and I had to tidy it once more.Standing at the glass, I saw in it—and as I saw, I was overcome with shame and horror—that you were surreptitiously slipping a couple of banknotes into my muff.I could hardly refrain from crying out;I could hardly refrain from slapping your face.You were paying me for the night I had spent with you, me who had loved you since childhood, me the mother of your son.To you I was only a prostitute picked up at a dancing-hall.It was not enough that you should forget me;you had to pay me, and to debase me by doing so.

I hastily gathered up my belongings, that I might escape as quickly as possible;the pain was too great. I looked round for my hat.There it was, on the writing-table, beside the vase with the white roses, my roses.I had an irresistible desire to make a last effort to awaken your memory.“Will you give me one of your white roses?”“Of course,”you answered, lifting them all out of the vase.“But perhaps they were given you by a woman, a woman who loves you?”“Maybe,”you replied,“I don't know.They were a present, but I don't know who sent them;that's why I'm so fond of them.”I looked at you intently:“Perhaps they were sent you by a woman whom you have forgotte n!”You were surprised.I looked at you yet more intently.“Recognise me, only recognise me at las t!”was the clamour of my eyes.But your smile, though cordial, had no recognition in it.You kissed me yet again, but you did not recognise me.

I hurried away, for my eyes were filling with tears, and I did not want you to see. In the entry, as I precipitated myself from the room, I almost cannoned into John, your servant.Embarrassed but zealous, he got out of my way, and opened the front door for me.Then, in this fugitive instant, as I looked at him through my tears, a light suddenly flooded the old man's face.In this fugitive instant, I tell you, he recognised me, the man who had never seen me since my childhood.I was so grateful, that I could have kneeled before him and kissed his hands.I tore from my muff the banknotes with which you had scourged me, and thrust them upon him.He glanced at me in alarm—for in this instant I think he understood more of me than you have understood in your whole life.Everyone, everyone, has been eager to spoil me;everyone has loaded me with kindness.But you, only you, forgot me.You, only you, never recognised me.

你把我摟在懷里。我又在你那兒過了一個銷魂之夜。可是在我赤身露體的時候，你仍沒認(rèn)出我來。我幸福地接受你那嫻熟的溫情和愛撫，我發(fā)現(xiàn)，你的激情對情人和對妓女都是一樣的，沒有區(qū)別。你恣意放縱自己的情欲，不加節(jié)制，不假思索地?fù)]霍你的元氣。你對我這個從交際場里帶回來的女人是那么溫柔，那么優(yōu)雅親切且充滿敬意；同時，你在享受女人方面又是如此激情四溢；我陶醉在過去的幸福之中，又一次感覺到你本性上那獨特的兩重性，肉欲的沸騰中含著智慧與精神的激情，而這激情在當(dāng)年就已使我這個小姑娘成了你的奴隸，對你百依百順。我從來沒有見過一個男人在溫情愛撫之際這樣貪圖享受片刻的歡愉，這樣縱情，將自己的內(nèi)心深處展露無遺——而事后，一切都似如煙往事般散去了，全都飄到了被遺忘的角落，忘得那么無影、那么徹底，無情得令人心痛?？稍诋?dāng)時我也忘乎所以了：黑暗中躺在你身旁的這個我究竟是誰??？是從前那個急切而熾烈的小姑娘嗎？是你孩子的母親或只是一個陌生的女人嗎？啊，在這個激情之夜，一切是如此親切，如此熟悉，而又是如此異乎尋常的新鮮。我禱告上蒼，但愿這一夜能永遠(yuǎn)延續(xù)下去。

可惜黎明終于還是到來了，我們起得很晚，你請我與你共進(jìn)早餐。不知道是哪位侍者早已謹(jǐn)慎地擺好了餐室里的茶點，我們一起喝著茶，閑聊。你又用你那誠摯坦率、親昵和善的態(tài)度跟我說話，絕不會提任何不適宜的問題，也絕不探問關(guān)于我個人的任何情況。你沒有問我姓誰名誰，也沒有問我家住何處：對你來說，我不過只是又一次艷遇罷了，一個無名的女人，一段熱情的燃燒，最后在遺忘的煙霧中消失得無影無蹤。你告訴我說，你現(xiàn)在又要出遠(yuǎn)門，到北非待兩三個月；我在幸福之中又戰(zhàn)栗起來，因為我的耳邊又轟轟地響起這樣的聲音：完了，完了，他忘記了！我恨不得撲倒在你的腳下，大喊道：“帶我一起走吧，這樣你最終會認(rèn)出我來的，過了這么多年，你終于會認(rèn)出我是誰！”可我在你面前是如此羞怯、膽小，奴性十足，性格十分懦弱。我只能說一句：“多遺憾?。　蹦阄⑿Φ赝艺f：“你真的覺得遺憾嗎？”

此時一股突發(fā)的力量慫恿了我。我站起身來，久久地、聚精會神地盯著你看。然后我說道：“我曾愛的那個男人也跟你一樣，總是去旅行?！蔽夷曋恪！艾F(xiàn)在，現(xiàn)在他就要認(rèn)出我來了！”可是你微笑著，安慰我說：“他會回來的?！薄笆堑模蔽一卮鸬?，“會回來的，可是回來就什么都忘了?！?/p>

我說話的腔調(diào)一定有一些特殊，一定有些激烈的東西蘊(yùn)藏其中。因為你也站了起來，盯著我，那神情不勝驚訝，但又滿懷關(guān)切。你抓住我的雙肩，說道：“美好的東西是不會被遺忘的，我永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記你?！闭f著，你的目光直穿入我的內(nèi)心深處，仿佛是想把我的樣子牢牢地印在腦海中似的。我感到這道目光一直穿透我的身體，在里面探索、感覺、吮吸著我整個生命，這時我相信，盲人重見光明。他就要認(rèn)出我來了，他就要認(rèn)出我來了！這個念頭撼動了我的整個靈魂。

可是，你沒有認(rèn)出我來。沒有，你根本沒有認(rèn)出我來。對你來說，我從來也沒有像此刻這么陌生，要不然——你絕不會做出幾分鐘之后做的事情。你吻了我，又一次熱情的狂吻。頭發(fā)都給弄亂了，我只好再梳理一下，我剛好站在鏡子前面，從鏡子里我看到——我簡直又驚訝又羞愧，幾乎要跌倒在地上——我看到你正在非常小心地將幾張大鈔票塞進(jìn)我的暖手筒。此時此刻，在這種境況下，我怎么會沒有驚叫起來呢，怎么會沒有扇你一個耳光呢！我從小就愛你，并且是你兒子的母親，可你卻為我們的這一夜付錢！對你來說，我只不過是交際場上的一個妓女，僅此而已。你竟然付錢給我！被你遺忘還不夠，居然還受到這樣的侮辱。

我急忙收拾好東西，我要走，馬上離開。我的心都傷透了。我抓起擱在書桌上的帽子，它旁邊就是那只插著白玫瑰、插著我的玫瑰的花瓶。突然我心里又產(chǎn)生一個強(qiáng)烈而無法抗拒的愿望，我想再次嘗試來喚醒你的記憶：“你愿意送我一朵你的白玫瑰嗎？”“非常樂意?！蹦阏f著馬上就抽出一朵。“可這些花也許是一個女人、一個愛你的女人送給你的吧？”我說道?！耙苍S吧，”你說，“我也不知道，是別人送我的，我不清楚是誰送的；正因為如此我才這么喜歡這些花兒?！蔽叶⒅憧??！皼]準(zhǔn)兒也是一個被你遺忘的女人送來的！”當(dāng)時你臉上露出一副驚愕的神情。我仍目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地盯著你：“認(rèn)出我來，快認(rèn)出我來吧！”我的目光在吶喊著?？墒悄愕难劬ξ⑿χ?，親切但卻一無所知。你又吻了我一下，可是你仍舊沒認(rèn)出我來。

我疾步走向門口，因為我的眼淚馬上就要奪眶而出，可我不能讓你看見。我急忙沖了出去，很急。在前屋我?guī)缀鹾湍愕钠腿思s翰撞了個滿懷。他膽怯地連忙躲到一邊，一把拉開了走廊門，讓我出去。就在這一秒鐘里，你聽見了嗎？就在我正噙著眼淚與這位面容枯槁的老人正面相覷的一剎那，他的眼睛突然一亮，就在這一秒鐘，你聽見了嗎？就在這一瞬間老人認(rèn)出了我，盡管他從我童年時代起就沒再見過我了。他認(rèn)出了我，我恨不得跪倒在他面前，親吻他的雙手。我只是把你用來打發(fā)我的鈔票從暖手筒里掏出來，塞到了他的手里。他哆嗦著，驚慌而詫異地看著我——他這一瞬間里對我的了解比你這一輩子對我的了解還要多。所有的人都嬌縱我，寵愛我，大家對我都很好——只有你，只有你把我忘得一干二凈，只有你從來沒有認(rèn)出我來！

實戰(zhàn)提升

作者介紹

斯蒂芬·茨威格（1881—1942），奧地利著名作家、小說家、傳記作家。他善于運用各種體裁，寫過詩、小說、戲劇、傳記，還從事過文學(xué)翻譯。他在詩、小說、戲劇和人物傳記等寫作方面均有過人的造詣，但他的作品中尤以小說和人物傳記最為著稱。其代表作有小說《最初的經(jīng)歷》《馬來狂人》《恐懼》《感覺的混亂》《人的命運轉(zhuǎn)折點》《一個陌生女人的來信》等，回憶錄《昨日的世界》，傳記《異端的權(quán)利》《麥哲倫航海紀(jì)》《斷頭王后》《人類群星閃耀的時刻》等。

單詞注解

glorious[5^lC:riEs]adj.光榮的，榮耀的；輝煌的

intellectual[7inti5lektjuEl]adj.智力的；理智的

casual[5kAVuEl]adj.偶然的；隨便的

passionately[5pAFEnitli]adv.熱情地；激昂地

debase[di5beis]v.降低；貶低

precipitate[pri5sipiteit]v.使突然發(fā)生；加速；促使

kindness[5kaindnis]n.仁慈；和藹；好意

名句大搜索

此時一股突發(fā)的力量慫恿了我。

可是你的眼睛微笑著，親切卻一無所知。

他這一瞬間里對我的了解比你這一輩子對我的了解還多。