"Alas1, Monsieur," I said, greatly confused, "I am a poor orphan2 not yet fourteen years old and I have already become familiar with every nuance3 of misfortune; I implore4 your commiseration5, have pity upon me, I beseech6 you," and then I told in detail of all my ills, the difficulty I was having to find a place, perhaps I even mentioned how painful it was for me to have to take one, not having been born for a menial's condition. My suffering throughout it all, how I exhausted7 the little substance I had... failure to obtain work, my hope he would facilitate matters and help me find the wherewithal to live; in sum, I said everything that is dictated8 by the eloquence9 of wretchedness, always swift to rise in a sensitive soul.... After having listened to me with many distractions11 and much yawning, Monsieur Dubourg asked whether I had always been well-behaved. "I should be neither so poor nor so embarrassed, Monsieur," I answered him, "had I wished to cease to be."
"But," said Dubourg upon hearing that, "but what right have you to expect the wealthy to relieve you if you are in no way useful to them?"
"And of what service are you speaking, Monsieur? I asked nothing more than to render those decency12 and my years will permit me fulfill13."
"The services of a child like yourself are of no great use in a household," Dubourg replied to me. "You have neither the age nor the appearance to find the place you are seeking. You would be better advised to occupy yourself with giving men pleasure and to labor14 to discover someone who will consent to take care of you; the virtue15 whereof you make such a conspicuous16 display is worthless in this world; in vain will you genuflect17 before its altars, its ridiculous incense18 will nourish you not at all. The thing which least flatters men, that which makes the least favorable impression upon them, for which they have the most supreme19 contempt, is good behavior in your sex; here on earth, my child, nothing but what brings in gain or insures power is accounted; and what does the virtue of women profit us I It is their wantonness which serves and amuses us; but their chastity could not interest us less. When, to be brief, persons of our sort give, it is never except to receive; well, how may a little girl like yourself show gratitude20 for what one does for her if it is not by the most complete surrender of all that is desired of her body!"
"Oh, Monsieur," I replied, grown heavy of heart and uttering a sigh, "then uprightness and benevolence21 are to be found in man no longer!"
"Precious little," Dubourg rejoined. "How can you expect them still to exist after all the wise things that have been said and written about them? We have rid ourselves of this mania22 of obliging others gratuitously23; it was recognized that charity's pleasures are nothing but sops24 thrown to pride, and we turned our thoughts to stronger sensations; it has been noticed, for example, that with a child like you, it is infinitely25 preferable to extract, by way of dividends26 upon one's investment, all the pleasures lechery27 is able to offer much better these delights than the very insipid28 and futile29 ones said to come of the disinterested30 giving of help; his reputation for being a liberal man, an alms-giving and generous man, is not, even at the instant when he most enjoys it, comparable to the slightest sensual pleasure."
"Oh, Monsieur, in the light of such principles the miserable31 must therefore perish!"
"Does it matter? We have more subjects in France than are needed; given the mechanism's elastic32 capacities for production, the State can easily afford to be burdened by fewer people."
"But do you suppose children respect their fathers when they are thus despised by them ?"
"And what to a father is the love of the children who are a nuisance to him ?"
"Would it then have been better had they been strangled in the cradle ?"
"Certainly, such is the practice in numerous countries; it was the custom of the Greeks, it is the custom in China: there, the offspring of the poor are exposed, or are put to death. What is the good of letting those creatures live who, no longer able to count upon their parents' aid either because they are without parents or because they are not wanted or recognized by them, henceforth are useful for nothing and simply weigh upon the State: that much surplus commodity, you see, and the market is glutted33 already; bastards34, orphans35, malformed infants should be condemned36 to death immediately they are pupped: the first and the second because, no longer having anyone who wishes or who is able to take care of them, they are mere37 dregs which one day can have nothing but an undesirable38 effect upon the society they contaminate; the others because they cannot be of any usefulness to it; the one and the other of these categories are to society what are excrescences to the flesh, battening upon the healthy members' sap, degrading them, enfeebling them; or, if you prefer, they are like those vegetable parasites39 which, attaching themselves to sound plants, cause them to deteriorate40 by sucking up their nutritive juices. It's a shocking outrage41, these alms destined42 to feed scum, these most luxuriously43 appointed houses they have the madness to construct quite as if the human species were so rare, so precious one had to preserve it down to its last vile44 portion! But enough of politics whereof, my child, you are not likely to understand anything; why lament45 your fate? for it is in your power, and yours only, to remedy it."
"Great Heavens! at the price of what!"
"At the price of an illusion, of something that has none but the value wherewith your pride invests it. Well," continued this barbarian46, getting to his feet and opening the door, "that is all I can do for you; consent to it, or deliver me from your presence; I have no fondness for beggars...."
My tears flowed fast, I was unable to check them; would you believe it, Madame? they irritated rather than melted this man. He shut the door and, seizing my dress at the shoulder, he said most brutally47 he was going to force from me what I would not accord him voluntarily. At this cruel moment my misery48 endowed me with courage; I freed myself from his grasp and rushed toward the door:
"Odious49 man," said I as I fled from him, "may the Heaven you have so grievously offended some day punish your execrable heartlessness as it merits to be. You are worthy50 neither of the riches you have put to such vile use, nor of the very air you breathe in a world you defile51 with your barbarities."
I lost no time telling my hostess of the reception given me by the person to whom she had sent me; but what was my astonishment52 to have this wretch10 belabor53 me with reproaches rather than share my sorrow.
"You idiotic54 chit!" said she in a great rage, "do you imagine men are such great dupes as to dole55 out alms to little girls such as you without requiring something for their money? Monsieur Dubourg's behavior was far too gentle; in his place I should not have allowed you to leave without having had satisfaction from you. But since you do not care to profit from the aid I offer you, make your own arrangements as you please; you owe me money: pay it tomorrow; otherwise, it's to jail."
"Madame, have pity!"
"Yes, yes, pity; one need only have pity and one starves to death."
"But what would you have me do ?"
"You must go back to Dubourg; you must appease56 him; you must bring home money to me; I will visit him, I will give him notice; if I am able, I'll repair the damage your stupidity has caused; I will convey your apologies, but keep it in mind, you had better improve your conduct."
Ashamed, desperate, knowing not which way to turn, seeing myself savagely57 repulsed58 by everyone, I told Madame Desroches (that was my landlady's name) that I had decided59 to do whatever had to be done to satisfy her. She went to the financier's house and upon her return advised me that she had found him in a very irritable60 mood, that it had not been without an effort she had managed to incline him in my favor, that by dint61 of supplications she had at least persuaded him to see me again the following morning, but that I would have to keep a strict watch over my behavior, because, were I to take it into my head to disobey him again, he himself would see to it I was imprisoned62 forever.
All atremble, I arrived; Dubourg was alone and in a state yet more indecent than on the previous day. Brutality63, libertinage64, all the characteristics of the debauchee glittered in his cunning glances.
"Thank Desroches," he said harshly, "for it is as a favor to her I intend to show you an instant's kindness; you must surely be aware how little you deserve it after your performance yesterday. Undress yourself and if you once again manifest the least resistance to my desires, two men, waiting for you in the next room, will conduct you to a place whence you will never emerge alive."
"Oh Monsieur," say I, weeping, clutching the wicked man's knees, "unbend, I beseech you; be so generous as to relieve me without requiring what would be so costly65 I should rather offer you my life than submit to it.... Yes, I prefer to die a thousand times over than violate the principles I received in my childhood.... Monsieur, Monsieur, constrain66 me not, I entreat67 you; can you conceive of gleaning68 happiness in the depths of tears and disgust? Dare you suspect pleasure where you see naught69 but loathing70? No sooner shall you have consummated71 your crime than my despair will overwhelm you with remorse72...."
But the infamies73 to which Dubourg abandoned himself prevented me from continuing; that I was able to have believed myself capable of touching74 a man who was already finding, in the very spectacle of my suffering, one further vehicle for his horrible passions! Would you believe it, Madame? becoming inflamed75 by the shrill76 accents of my pleadings, savoring77 them inhumanly78, the wretch disposed himself for his criminal attempts! He gets up, and exhibiting himself to me in a state over which reason is seldom triumphant79, and wherein the opposition80 of the object which causes reason's downfall is but an additional ailment81 to delirium82, he seizes me brutally, impetuously snatches away the veils which still conceal83 what he burns to enjoy; he caresses84 me.... Oh! what a picture, Great God I What unheard-of mingling85 of harshness... and lewdness86! It seemed that the Supreme Being wished, in that first of my encounters, to imprint87 forever in me all the horror I was to have for a kind of crime whence there was to be born the torrent88 of evils that have beset89 me since. But must I complain of them? No, needless to say; to his excesses I owe my salvation90; had there been less debauchery in him, I were a ruined girl; Dubourg's flames were extinguished in the fury of his enterprises, Heaven intervened in my behalf against the monster before he could commit the offenses91 he was readying for, and the loss of his powers, before the sacrifice could occur, preserved me from being its victim.
收听单词发音 |
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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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nuance
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| n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别 | |
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implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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distractions
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| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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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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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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genuflect
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| v.屈膝，跪拜（之态度） | |
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incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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gratuitously
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| 平白 | |
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sops
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| n.用以慰藉或讨好某人的事物( sop的名词复数 )；泡湿的面包片等v.将（面包等）在液体中蘸或浸泡( sop的第三人称单数 )；用海绵、布等吸起（液体等） | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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dividends
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| 红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金 | |
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lechery
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| n.好色；淫荡 | |
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insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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glutted
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| v.吃得过多( glut的过去式和过去分词 )；（对胃口、欲望等）纵情满足；使厌腻；塞满 | |
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bastards
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| 私生子( bastard的名词复数 )； 坏蛋； 讨厌的事物； 麻烦事 （认为别人走运或不幸时说）家伙 | |
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orphans
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| 孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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parasites
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| 寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫 | |
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deteriorate
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| v.变坏；恶化；退化 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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50
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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51
defile
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| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
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52
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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belabor
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| vt.痛斥；作过长说明 | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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dole
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| n.救济，（失业）救济金；vt.（out）发放，发给 | |
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56
appease
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| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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58
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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libertinage
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| n.放荡，自由观点 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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constrain
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| vt.限制，约束；克制，抑制 | |
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entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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gleaning
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| n.拾落穗，拾遗，落穗v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的现在分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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consummated
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| v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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infamies
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| n.声名狼藉( infamy的名词复数 )；臭名；丑恶；恶行 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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savoring
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| v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的现在分词 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝 | |
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inhumanly
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| adv.无人情味地，残忍地 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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81
ailment
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| n.疾病，小病 | |
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delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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84
caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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85
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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86
lewdness
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| n. 淫荡, 邪恶 | |
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imprint
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| n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记 | |
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88
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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89
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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90
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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91
offenses
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| n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势 | |
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