Juliette, employing other resources, then said to her sister, that with the age and the figure they both of them had, they could not die of hunger she cited the example of one of their neighbors' daughters who, having escaped from her father's house, was presently very royally maintained and far happier, doubtless, than if she had remained at home with her family; one must, said Juliette, take good care to avoid believing it is marriage that renders a girl happy; that, a captive under the hymeneal laws, she has, with much ill-humor to suffer, a very slight measure of joys to expect; instead of which, were she to surrender herself to libertinage1, she might always be able to protect herself against her lovers' moods, or be comforted by their number.
These speeches horrified2 Justine; she declared she preferred death to ignominy; whatever were her sister's reiterated3 urgings, she adamantly4 refused to take up lodging5 with her immediately she saw Juliette bent6 upon conduct that caused her to shudder7.
After each had announced her very different intentions, the two girls separated without exchanging any promises to see each another again. Would Juliette, who, so she affirmed, intended to become a lady of consequence, would Juliette consent to receive a little girl whose virtuous8 but base inclinations9 might be able to bring her into dishonor? and, on her side, would Justine wish to jeopardize10 her morals in the society of a perverse11 creature who was bound to become public debauchery's toy and the lewd12 mob's victim? And so each bid an eternal adieu to the other, and they left the convent on the morrow.
During early childhood caressed13 by her mother's dressmaker, Justine believes this woman will treat her kindly14 now in this hour of her distress15; she goes in search of the woman, she tells the tale of her woes16, she asks employment . . . she is scarcely recognized; and is harshly driven out the door.
"Oh Heaven I" cries the poor little creature, "must my initial steps in this world be so quickly stamped with ill-fortune? That woman once loved me; why does she cast me away today? Alas17! 'tis because I am poor and an orphan18, because I have no more means and people are not esteemed19 save in reason of the aid and benefits one imagines may be had of them." Wringing20 her hands, Justine goes to find her cure; she describes her circumstances with the vigorous candor21 proper to her years.... She was wearing a little white garment, her lovely hair was negligently22 tucked up under her bonnet23, her breast, whose development had scarcely begun, was hidden beneath two or three folds of gauze, her pretty face had somewhat of pallor owing to the unhappiness consuming her, a few tears rolled from her eyes and lent to them an additional expressiveness24...
"You observe me, Monsieur," said she to the saintly ecclesiastic25... "Yes, you observe me in what for a girl is a most dreadful position; I have lost my father and mother... Heaven has taken them from me at an age when I stand in greatest need of their assistance... They died ruined, Monsieur; we no longer have anything. There," she continued, "is all they left me," and she displayed her dozen louis, "and nowhere to rest my poor head.... You will have pity upon me, Monsieur, will you not? You are Religion's minister and Religion was always my heart's virtue26; in the name of that God I adore and whose organ you are, tell me, as if you were a second father unto me, what must I do? what must become of me ?"
The charitable priest clapped an inquisitive27 eye upon Justine, and made her answer, saying that the parish was heavily loaded; that it could not easily take new charges unto its bosom28, but that if Justine wished to serve him, if she were prepared for hard toil29, there would always be a crust of bread in his kitchen for her. And as he uttered those words, the gods' interpreter chuck'ed her under the chin; the kiss he gave her bespoke30 rather too much worldliness for a man of the church, and Justine, who had understood only too well, thrust him away. "Monsieur," said she, "I ask neither alms of you nor a position as your scullion; it was all too recently I took leave of an estate loftier than that which might make those two favors desirable; I am not yet reduced to imploring31 them; I am soliciting32 advice whereof my youth and my misfortunes put me in need, and you would have me purchase it at an excessively inflated34 price." Ashamed thus to have been unmasked, the pastor35 promptly36 drove the little creature away, and the unhappy Justine, twice rejected on the first day of her condemnation37 to isolation38, now enters a house above whose door she spies a shingle39; she rents a small chamber40 on the fourth floor, pays in advance for it, and, once established, gives herself over to lamentations all the more bitter because she is sensitive and because her little pride has just been compromised cruelly.
We will allow ourselves to leave her in this state for a short while in order to return to Juliette and to relate how, from the very ordinary condition in which she sets forth41, no better furnished with resources than her sister, she nevertheless attains42, over a period of fifteen years, the position of a titled woman, with an income of thirty thousand pounds, very handsome jewels, two or three houses in the city, as many in the country and, at the present moment, the heart, the fortune and the confidence of Monsieur de Corville, Councillor to the State, an important man much esteemed and about to have a minister's post. Her rise was not, there can be no question of it, unattended by difficulties: 'tis by way of the most shameful45, most onerous46 apprenticeship47 that these ladies attain43 their objectives; and 'tis in all likelihood a veteran of unnumbered campaigns one may find today abed with a Prince: perhaps she yet carries the humiliating marks of the brutality48 of the libertines49 into whose hands her youth and inexperience flung her long ago.
Upon leaving the convent, Juliette went to find a woman whose name she had once heard mentioned by a youthful friend; perverted51 was what she desired to be and this woman was to pervert50 her; she arrived at her house with a small parcel under her arm, clad in a blue dressing52 gown nicely disarrayed53, her hair straggling carelessly about, and showing the prettiest face in the world, if it is true that for certain eyes indecency may have its charms; she told her story to this woman and begged her to afford her the sanctuary54 she had provided her former friend.
"How old are you?" Madame Duvergier demanded.
"I will be fifteen in a few days, Madame," Juliette replied.
"And never hath mortal . . ." the matron continued.
"No, Madame, I swear it," answered Juliette.
"But, you know, in those convents," said the old dame55, "sometimes a confessor, a nun56, a companion... I must have conclusive57 evidence."
"You have but to look for it," Juliette replied with a blush.
And, having put on her spectacles, and having scrupulously58 examined things here and there, the duenna declared to the girl:
"Why, you've only to remain here, pay strict attention to what I say, give proof of unending complaisance59 and submissiveness to my practices, you need but be clean, economical, and frank with me, be prudent60 with your comrades and fraudulent when dealing61 with men, and before ten years' time I shall have you fit to occupy the best second-story apartment: you'll have a commode, pier-glass mirrors before you and a maid behind, and the art you will have acquired from me will give you what you need to procure62 yourself the rest."
These suggestions having left her lips, Duvergier lays hands on Juliette's little parcel; she asks her whether she does not have some money, and Juliette having too candidly63 admitted she had a hundred crowns, the dear mother confiscates64 them, giving her new boarding guest the assurance her little fortune will be chanced at the lottery65 for her, but that a girl must not have money. "It is," says she, "a means to doing evil, and in a period as corrupt66 as ours, a wise and well-born girl should carefully avoid all which might lure67 her into any snares68. It is for your own good I speak, my little one," adds the duenna, "and you ought to be grateful for what I am doing." The sermon delivered, the newcomer is introduced to her colleagues; she is assigned a room in the house, and on the next day her maidenhead is put on sale.
Within four months the merchandise is sold successively to about one hundred buyers; some are content with the rose, others more fastidious or more depraved (for the question has not yet been decided) wish to bring to full flower the bud that grows adjacently. After each bout44, Duvergier makes a few tailor's readjustments and for four months it is always the pristine69 fruits the rascal70 puts on the block. Finally, at the end of this harassing71 novitiate, Juliette obtains a lay sister's patents; from this moment onward72, she is a recognized girl of the house; thereafter she is to share in its profits and losses. Another apprenticeship; if in the first school, aside from a few extravagances, Juliette served Nature, she altogether ignores Nature's laws in the second, where a complete shambles73 is made of what she once had of moral behavior; the triumph she obtains in vice33 totally degrades her soul; she feels that, having been born for crime, she must at least commit it grandly and give over languishing74 in a subaltern's role, which, although entailing75 the same misconduct, although abasing76 her equally, brings her a slighter, a much slighter profit. She is found agreeable by an elderly gentleman, much debauched, who at first has her come merely to attend to the affairs of the moment; she has the skill to cause herself magnificently to be kept; it is not long before she is appearing at the theater, at promenades77, amongst the elite78, the very cordon79 bleu of the Cytherean order; she is beheld80, mentioned, desired, and the clever creature knows so well how to manage her affairs that in less than four years she ruins six men, the poorest of whom had an annuity81 of one hundred thousand crowns. Nothing more is needed to make her reputation; the blindness of fashionable people is such that the more one of these creatures has demonstrated her dishonesty, the more eager they are to get upon her list; it seems that the degree of her degradation82 and her corruption83 becomes the measure of the sentiments they dare display for her.
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1
libertinage
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| n.放荡，自由观点 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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adamantly
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| adv.坚决地，坚定不移地，坚强不屈地 | |
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lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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jeopardize
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| vt.危及，损害 | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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lewd
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| adj.淫荡的 | |
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caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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woes
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| 困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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negligently
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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expressiveness
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| n.富有表现力 | |
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ecclesiastic
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| n.教士，基督教会；adj.神职者的，牧师的，教会的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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30
bespoke
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| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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soliciting
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| v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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inflated
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| adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨 | |
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pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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shingle
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| n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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attains
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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onerous
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| adj.繁重的 | |
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47
apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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48
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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49
libertines
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| n.放荡不羁的人，淫荡的人( libertine的名词复数 ) | |
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50
pervert
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| n.堕落者，反常者；vt.误用，滥用；使人堕落，使入邪路 | |
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51
perverted
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| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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52
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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53
disarrayed
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| vt.使混乱（disarray的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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54
sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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58
scrupulously
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| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
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complaisance
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| n.彬彬有礼，殷勤，柔顺 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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candidly
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| adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地 | |
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confiscates
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的名词复数 ) | |
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lottery
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| n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事 | |
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corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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pristine
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| adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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harassing
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| v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人） | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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shambles
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| n.混乱之处；废墟 | |
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languishing
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| a. 衰弱下去的 | |
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entailing
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| 使…成为必要( entail的现在分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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abasing
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| 使谦卑( abase的现在分词 )； 使感到羞耻； 使降低（地位、身份等）； 降下 | |
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promenades
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| n.人行道( promenade的名词复数 )；散步场所；闲逛v.兜风( promenade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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elite
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| n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的 | |
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cordon
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| n.警戒线，哨兵线 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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annuity
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| n.年金；养老金 | |
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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